Revivescere
by GNDragon74
Summary: The night that Voldemort cast the killing curse at little Harry Potter, things really didn't go to plan. Not for Voldemort, nor for Harry's parents, nor for the spirit of Rose Paterson that just so happened to be floating by. However, for the god of prophecy, for Faunus, things went exactly according to plan.
1. The Beginning

Revivescere (Latin): to be reborn

~O::O::O~

AS OF 8/26/17 FIRST 4 CHAPTERS HAVE BEEN UPDATED. Over 4500 words have been added in total. PLEASE reread if you read the story before that!

~O::O::O~

The night that Voldemort cast the killing curse at little Harry Potter, things really didn't go to plan. Not for Voldemort, nor for Harry's parents, nor for the spirit of Rose Paterson that just so happened to be floating by. However, for the god of prophecy, for Faunus, things went exactly according to plan.

You see when the killing curse somehow, miraculously rebounded off of Harry and returned to kill Voldemort, it was not Voldemort's spirit that was irreversibly changed, it was Harry's. Lilly Potter was not the first person to die for a loved one, and she would not be the last.

Why then had Harry survived where the others had not? Love did play a role, and so did sacrifice. Lily's choice to save her child, much like any other sacrifice of love, caused the killing curse to backfire and kill the caster, but even still there is no block for that curse, no true protection.

The curse badly damaged little Harry's soul, causing his essence to slowly leak out of his forehead. Compared to the soul being released all at once, the leak was much slower. However, it could and would still kill the victim if the leak was not stopped within an hour. Death was the fate of 99.99% of the people that this happened to.

The reason for this was because, there was really only one way to stop the leak, and no one living new how. To stop the leak another soul had to enter the victim's body and plug the hole. The "helper" soul would have to stay within that body until the victim's soul could create its own block. Then the soul could be removed without the victim dying.

Souls aren't band aids though. You can't just buy a pack at the market and even if you could, souls are active things. They constantly change and affect everything they come into contact with. So even if you could save someone in this fashion, that person would become distinctly different the longer they were in contact with the soul that was helping them. This was the thing that had made Harry Potter different from all previous cases.

In a different universe the last broken piece of Tom Riddle's soul would come too close to the child's essence and be sucked in to stop the leak. Harry's soul would then block off the evil essence of Tom Riddle as best it could, like the immune system sealing off a bit of cancer so that it wouldn't spread. Tom's soul would still affect Harry in different, if moderate ways, but since he was so young and all those that knew him were dead or wouldn't see him again for at least ten years no one would really notice those changes.

Eventually, when the rest of Tom's soul grew near, the little piece inside of Harry would struggle and break the seal around it, causing the mental link between their two minds. When the piece of soul inside of Harry was finally killed, Harry's soul would have already plugged the leak.

However, in this universe things went drastically different in many different ways. The first being that Tom's soul did not stick around to investigate. It left the area as fast as it could, looking for some way back into the living world. It was almost fifty minutes later that the soul of Rose Paterson not so accidentally floated by.

~O::O::O~

Rose awakens from a fog to the distinctive wailing of a baby. The sound is radiating out from a small crumbling cottage. For a second she wonders how she has gotten to this place, but the thought is quickly pushed aside as she goes to investigate the sounds.

Sound travels differently on the spirit plane, and for any spirit on this plane it is easy to distinguish between the voice of a spirit and the voice of the living. Spirits sound much like humans do to humans, though the tone and pitch are no longer limited by a physical body and so have a much wider range of possibilities.

For a spirit to hear a living human they must be actively trying to hear them. Like listening for a familiar voice in a crowded airport. It's not impossible, but it can be hard. To Rose the baby's cries are very clearly those of a spirit. She has no way of knowing that the cry she hears is radiating through both worlds.

Though her memories have an odd foggy quality to them that really makes her wonder, she can't seem to focus on them. All she can think about is the baby. Rose has always been a bit of a mother bear, so the fact that all her focus is on a desperately crying baby is not immediately suspicious to her. Even if she has no idea who they are, Rose would always jump up to protect a child.

One day soon though, she will have plenty of time to debate with herself whether the feeling had been her own, or if it had been implanted inside of her. Honestly, she will have more than enough time to debate with herself over many, many things.

As she finally approaches the room that contains the cries of this mystery baby, she feels a rush of anxiety. Suddenly she feels as if time is running out. She ignores the bodies she passes along the way. She ignores the foul feeling of a tainted soul. Her only focus the cries of a baby that are slowly losing strength.

As soon as she sees the small child leaning against the bars of its crib she reached her arms out for him. The crying stops immediately and bright green eyes struggle to focus on her through the tears. A small arm reaches out towards her through the bars of the crib. The arms are visibly shaking, as if the child barely has the strength to reach for her.

She approaches quickly but before she can even touch the child she feels as if she is being sucked through a tube. The world around her twists and distorts, and suddenly everything is different.

Unlike Tom in the other universe, Rose's soul is not evil or malicious. Her soul is caring and motherly. Little Harry's soul is even weaker than it would have been in the other universe, as it has been leaking out his essence for a full fifty-five minutes. All these things combine to create a drastically different outcome. Little Harry's soul reaches out and embraces Rose's with all its strength.

Rose's soul embraces the tremendously weak and trembling soul of little Harry and distinctly feels as its last bits of essences simply melts into hers. Suddenly she can feel her body, a tiny little thing that could most likely only toddle around. She has a vague sense of her bodies memories. A woman with red hair and green eyes that cooed and cuddled her. A man with brown hair and brown eyes that swept her up into the air with a grin.

Those are now her memories and this is now her body, but she doesn't forget that they weren't hers first. She is a bit disorientated, but she knows she had been someone else before. An older woman going to college and working part time.

She doesn't remember how she had died, but she remembers what came afterwards. She knows she has been given a second chance to live, but she mourns the child that has now merged with her. He is not dead, he is a part of her, but he will no longer have the freedom to learn and grow and become someone else, unaffected by who she is and what she knows.

They are one, but once they had been two. In a way it is beautiful. A part of her feels comforted and safe in the knowledge that she will never again be truly alone. She thinks that is the part of her that had cried for over fifty minutes staring at the one who had raised her lying motionless on the floor.

Another part of her feels so extremely guilty that she is alive, when everyone she has ever known or loved is gone. Either dead or in a different world entirely. This part feels guilty that she can remember and mourn the woman lying dead on the ground better then she can remember the other people who had once raised her so many years ago.

~O::O::O~

She stared around at her loved ones as they mourned her. Her family and friends all heartbroken to see her gone, but still coming together at her funeral. She knows she should feel something. Disappointed that she cannot continue her life. Sad that she will never be able to embrace her family again. Lonely now that she can no longer talk to her friends.

She doesn't feel any of those things. She feels disconnected from all of them. She knows she will always love them, but now her love feels different. It is there and warm, but not binding and the thought of leaving no longer causes pain. She is free of all of the selfish attachments her love had once contained.

Her family and friends will always exist, weather dead or alive, and she no longer feels a need to be around them. Feels no need to watch as they live their lives without her. So, she leaves. She soon learns it is different for many of the other spirits. She sees them on her travels, even stops and talks to a few.

Some spirits are stuck to a certain place. Either the place they died or a place that was important to them in life. Some follow those they loved in life doing everything they can to help. Others follow around their decedents to see everything they had brought into the world.

It is a very old Native American spirit that finally explains to her what exactly is going on. She has not passed on to the true spirit realm. Her soul was missing something. Whether there was some realization she still needed to have, or some purpose one of the Gods wanted her to fulfill he did not know.

All the spirits she can see are in the same boat as her. They are in an in-between place. This place still has some connection to the living world, and that is why they can still see the people living in it. None of them can reach the true spirit realm until they have found what they are missing.

The Native American man's name is Takoda. His mission is to help others find their way. To guide them through the in-between place. He is guided by the goddess Abone, the goddess of journeys. Takoda teaches Rose many things about the realm they reside in.

The most important thing Takoda teaches Rose is to listen for her guide. All beings, whether alive or dead, have a God or Goddess that resonates with them. Though the connection can be stronger or weaker depending on the person, everyone has a god to guide them. So many simply don't want to listen for them.

Rose continues to wander and listen. Soon she hears it. The voice is deep and masculine. When she listens very closely she can hear things within the voice. The sound of wild beasts playing, trees swaying in the breeze, and crickets chirping in the night. It is the sound of nature.

He does not need to introduce himself. She just knows that he is the God that will guide her. Knows that he is the voice she has felt in her heart her whole life. She has never heard his voice with her ears before, but he had been singing to her soul since the day she was born.

So, when he tells her where to go she follows. There are no words needed, just a feeling, a knowing. She follows the path he sets for her across hills and valleys, straight across the ocean into the heart of London. He guides her through streets, and parks, through buildings and people. He leads her all the way to a transparent veil that sits in the middle of a large office building filled with cubicles.

When he nudges her to step though the veil she does so with no hesitation. On the inside of the veil she can feel him pulling her along, guiding her to the correct exit. Finally, after a long while, she steps out on the other side.

On this side the veil is not transparent. Clearly, from the surrounding chamber, it can be seen and interacted with. Something about this is very familiar, but there is no time to think of how as the presence nudges her forward again.

The voice guides her all the way to the street where she hears the crying and then simply vanished. Her head is finally clear to think strait but all she can focus on is the cry of a young child clearly coming from down the road.

The cry reminds her of her nieces and nephews, reminds her that she has never had children of her own, but has always been so protective of those around her. So, she follows the cry in the hopes of being able to help the child.

Now she is that child. Its memories are her memories and its body is her body. She doesn't know why this has happened, but she knows that the child can never come back on its own, because he is a part of her now. Their souls have mixed and become one, and though she can distinguish whose memories are whose simply by what they contain, they all feel like hers.

There is no part of her essence that feels different, they have blended seamlessly. Like a bit of green paint mixed with an entire bottle of blue paint. Her essence has taken over because it is so much more than his, but his did not go away. They are an entire bottle of turquoise paint. They are one and the same now.

~O::O::O~

 _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches..._

 _Born to those who have thrice defied him,_

 _Born as the seventh month dies..._

 _And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal,_

 _But **they** will have power the Dark Lord knows not..._

 _ **Guided by the god of prophecy,**_

 _ **Guided by the love of family...**_

 _The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be **reborn as the tenth month dies...**_

 _~O::O::O~_

515 Words added as of 8/26/17


	2. Early Childhood

~O::O::O~

Incrementulum (Latin): growth, development.

~O::O::O~

Rose opens her eyes for the first time in her new body to see a roguishly handsome man with long black hair and gray eyes reaching down to pick her up. She wonders how long she has been thinking about the differences between being a spirit and having a body. There is no way for her to really know.

She has lost her internal clock. She can of course still see the color of the sky, but her innate ability to keep track of such a thing is completely gone. It has been since the day she died and she is just now realizing it. The world looks different now. She hadn't noticed before, but in the spirit word there had been more colors that she can no longer see.

It is slowly dawning on her that her thoughts in the spirit world worked differently. Since she had no physical brain her thoughts had not flowed linearly. It was almost like dreaming, but somehow different as well. The longer she was alive again, the harder it was to clearly remember some of the things that made the spirit realm so unique.

"Oh, Harry how could this happen!? We should have known it was Peter and not Remus!" The voice startles her so much she jumps. She had forgotten the man was even there and now he is crying as he looks down at her. She can feel the salty tears dropping onto her face. It is weird to feel liquid again, she had almost forgotten what it was to feel rain, but that is not important right now!

With a sinking feeling in her gut Rose knows exactly where she has ended up, and exactly why she had vaguely recognized the veil she had been guided through earlier. She doesn't understand how this could be though. No matter how much she had loved the story, that's all it had been to her, a story.

Now she realizes that this body that has become hers is that of Harry Potter. The fabled child of prophecy that would end a mad man's reign and save the Wizarding World. Her mind is frantic as she thinks of all the different things that are now her responsibility and wonders at all the things that were never explained. It had been a good story, but she doesn't want to live a life in the spotlight. That has never been something she liked. Of course, Harry never liked the spotlight either. It was always one of his more relatable traits.

Maybe that will help her blend in better. Wait, but no one knows how she would act anyway because Harry hasn't grown up enough to have a discernible character. Besides which he is about to be given to the Dursley and he won't see anyone of importance for another ten years.

With her mind whirling so fast she doesn't realize that they have moved until she feels herself being handed over to someone else. She looks up and sees massive curls. She never realized how absolutely giant Hagrid is. He isn't just a large guy like in the movies. He is huge! How have more people not guessed at his linage?

"Take him to Dumbledore for me Hagrid? You can use my motorbike, I have to go take care of something and then I'll be back for him."

"Alrigh'," Hagrid nods and suddenly Sirius Black is leaving.

Rose knows what is about to happen and even in her shocked state she feels that she has to change it somehow. She doesn't want to live with Lily's horrible relatives, and she doesn't want Sirius Black to be wrongfully imprisoned.

She tries to say something but her mouth is hard to control. The muscles don't feel the same. They haven't had a lot of time to develop. Even if she knows how they should move it's hard to make them listen. All that comes out is a strangled cry. For a second she thinks it is enough, for Sirius Black turns back around and walks to her.

"I'll be back for you Harry, don't worry." Sirius Black says as he caresses her cheek with a shaking hand, and then he turns around and leaves. There is nothing she can do. She cannot even speak in this weak new body.

She struggles anyway and starts to cry. She can feel Hagrid trembling, but he holds her securely and yet gently. She can defiantly hear him crying as well, but it seems as through his beard stops the tears from splashing onto her face. Hagrid shushes her and begins to sway back and forth. The feeling is very soothing. She doesn't mean to, but she is so tired already that she drifts off into a peaceful sleep.

~O::O::O~

When she next opens her eyes, it is to a loud scream. Looking up she can see an ugly horse faced woman standing just inside the doorway of a plane everyday house. Above all this she can see the sun just barely starting to rise on a new day.

It is too late for her now, there is no way she will be able to convince Dumbledore not to leave her here when she has slept through the entire encounter with him. Not knowing what else to do, and feeling remarkably helpless for the second time since her rebirth, Rose begins to cry.

~O::O::O~

Growing up with the Dursleys is in ways not as bad as she thought, but also somehow worse than she could have ever imagined. At first the hardest part is simply living with the fact that she has no control over what happens in her life. She is fifteen months old and can walk, but she cannot talk or even use the bathroom by herself.

She could probably due so if they let her, but as children usually weren't potty trained until around two or three they do not even own a potty chair. At least nobody knows that inside she is a fully functioning adult. Or else her lack of ability to do even the simplest things would be even more humiliating.

During the day she is confined to a play pen, and forced to eat disgusting baby food. She watches as Dudley has free reign of the living room and eats real food. The favoritism angers her, but there is little she can do.

She starts a very basic workout routine to try and build her mobility. It consists mainly of squats, sit ups and hand curls. There is little else she can do with such a little body and only her play pen to work with. She hopes to at least build up her athleticism, as she knows one day soon she will have to start running from Dudley's fists.

It is hard and humiliating, but most of all it is boring. The day to day life of a toddler is tedium for an adult, even if she is no longer fully grown. She spends way too much time thinking about what she is going to do with her life. She goes over everything she thinks she knows about a book series she had only read a few times. She has a decent memory, but over time she has forgotten a lot of the little details.

Later this forced internalization of all of the traumatic things that have happened will have a drastic effect on her behavior. Though she has memories of a different life that will no doubt effect and change her, the emotions connected to those memories are much more distant. Dyeing had fundamentally changed her and the way she mourned for those she had loved.

The memories and emotions that came with this body were not affected in such a way. She feels the full force of the emotional attachments she has made with her mother and father. Even if she had only known them for a little over a year. She had developed a special kind of attachment to them that all children raised by loving parents make.

The fact that she has more memories now does not diminish that in any way. If anything, the memories of her body are more clear and realistic then those of her previous life. The knowledge she has gained with the older memories only seem to make the new ones clearer in her mind.

She had watched a mad man strike her mother down with just the lift of a stick and a bright green light. She had starred at her unresponsive body for almost an hour. The knowledge she has gained gives her the ability to know that her mother is dead, and she will never see her beautiful smile again.

She also feels a connection to her father, and of course she feels great sadness for him as well. However, the fact that she had had and eventually lost a different father in a different life somehow makes the connection and hurt somewhat dimmed. Not to mention of course that this body's mother had been so much more involved in her life and rearing.

She is all alone with these memories and thoughts. She cannot seek help or comfort from those around her. Not just because she cannot speak. More importantly it is the fact that her Aunt and Uncle do not seem to even care about her let alone love her. That hurts in its own way, but mostly it just angers her. She has done nothing to deserve their treatment. She is remarkably well behaved for a child her age. The older she gets however the harder it gets to handle their treatment.

From what she hears at their regular doctors' appointments Dudley is advancing slightly below average. When she is first dropped off with the Dursleys she was fifteen months and could already walk pretty steadily. This was average for her age. On the other hand, Dudley who is one month older than her, is barely starting to take his first steps.

From the point that she gained the memories of Rose she has started to develop much faster than average. This is to be expected, after all she has the memories of an adult, even with the fact that it is taking a while for her brain and body to adjust to the differences, there is no way she can act like a mere toddler for months on end. Even if she could she wouldn't. She desperately desires the return of her independence, and she works hard daily to try and reclaim it.

Eventually the doctors recommend enrolling her in schooling for gifted children. Of course, the Dursleys don't do this. In fact, they are so mad at her for being better than their own child that this is where things start to really change.

Before they treated her mostly with indifference. They fed and bathed her when they had to but mostly left her in the play pen and ignored her. Now the hate is clear on their faces when they look at her. The disdain is clear in their voices when they speak to her. They never hit her, they are not that stupid, but verbally they hold nothing back.

If she were actually a child she knows that all this constant abuse would really mess her up. It still hurts her, but she has enough past experience to know that the things they say have nothing to do with her. They are the ones with the problems. They are jealous that she is better than their own child, and resentful of the fact that they have to look after the child of people they hate.

Even with all of this past knowledge, the constant negativity would have most likely really messed her up if it weren't for the voices in her head. The voice from before that had guided her so steadfast still talks to her. Now that there are not so many time constraints, but rather an overabundance of free time he takes a moment to introduces himself. He is Faunus the God of Prophecy and Nature.

He rarely takes the time to actually speak to her, but now that she knows of him fully his presence never truly leaves her. If she closes her eyes and listens she can hear the sound of wild beasts playing, trees swaying in the breeze, and crickets chirping in the night. These are his heartbeat and his breath, and she can always hear it if only she takes the time to listen.

He is her guardian God after all, and he has strengthened their connection by the focus he puts upon her. He has chosen her and guided her far away from her original world and thus their connection will steadily grow stronger as her soul adapts.

She starts to see visions, he is after all known as the God of Prophecy. These visions that she receives keep her going when things get rough. She sees visions of the people she knows that one day she will meet. Little things here and there to keep her from falling into depression. A bright smile, a warm hug. The sun glinting off of red hair and shining blue eyes. The feeling of strong arms wrapped around her.

Slowly as the months turn into years the visions will become stronger. The will go from lasting seconds to a couple of minutes, and the amount of information that will be able to fit within them will increase. It will be similar to how you can dream that it has been days but in reality, you have only been dreaming for about ten minutes.

These visions are, not so coincidentally, the perfect excuses for her knowledge of the Harry Potter world. She spends hours planning what she will do when she eventually gets there. What will she change, and how will she go about saving everyone she can.

When she is entered into reception she thinks about telling the teachers about the abuse of her relatives, but a voice in her head says it is not yet time. Faunus talks in many different voices, but she always knows when it is him that speaks.

The school tries to have her skip a few grades as she is obviously advanced enough, but again her relatives will hear nothing of it. The teacher still gives her much more advanced work though, and she does a lot of studying in the library.

She does research on the Roman and Greek gods. Though they have different names many are really the same beings. She asks Faunus about stories that interest her and sometimes he even replies.

She is almost six years old and she is just starting first grade when they have an assembly. A group of adults she has never seen at the school before come in to talk to them about abuse. One of the many voices of Faunus tells her that now is her chance, now is when she will set things in motion.

When the assembly is over it is time for recess. The kids are told to go burn off their extra energy. Rose stays behind to talk to the grownups. She thinks they probably timed it this way on purpose, just for kids like her. Those that need to talk but don't want their peers to see them.

Rose goes to stand before the stage looking down at her shoes. She nervously plays with her fingers as she waits for someone to notice her. She has never been particularly good with talking to strangers, and it has been a long time since people took her seriously.

"Is there something you need?" asks the woman that did most of the speech, she is clearly the leader. She comes down from the stage and crouches in front of Rose, trying to make herself more approachable.

The woman is average height with shoulder length brown hair, and soft brown eyes. Rose does not remember her name, but the woman has a kind face and Rose finds herself relaxing minutely. At first, she is not sure what to say, but Faunus gives her confidence and the words tumble out of her mouth.

"You...you said that abuse isn't only physical, that it can be...You said that it could be verbal?"

"Yes dear, it can be." The woman says. She wants Rose to say more, needs her to. She might have a strong intuition, but she can't help the children who don't talk to her. The law simply won't let her. So, she puts on her most comforting face, the one that's gotten so many other children to talk, and simply waits for Rose to say more. 

"I think I'm being abused then."

~O::O::O~

From there things happen pretty quickly. It would have taken much longer is she had gone to a teacher the year previously. The teachers wouldn't have known what to do as well as those that dealt with such things daily. The malnourishment would still have been pretty obvious, but the teachers wouldn't have had the chance to get to know the Dursleys. They would have questioned that such respectable looking people would do the things she said.

There would have been time for Dumbledore to intervene. Dumbledore who thought that the fact that the blood wards worked meant that there was no way she could be mistreated. As they were, things happened so quickly that Misses Fig from down the street didn't even have time to report to Dumbledore until Rose was already packed and in foster care.

She is taken and interviewed by a social worker. Her teachers are interviewed as well as her cousin, Aunt and Uncle. Dudley doesn't really know what he shouldn't be saying, he avoids talking about the verbal abuse that he had just learned was bad, but he doesn't know not to mention the fact that he has two bedrooms where as his cousin sleeps under the stairs.

The very blatant fact that she is malnourished whereas Dudley is so large speaks for itself. Her teachers talk about how smart he is but how his Aunt and Uncle only ever want to hear about Dudley and refuse to let him advance. The fact that she is the one asking for help instead of someone else just suspecting is the last straw they need to take her away.

~O::O::O~

1360 words added as of 8/26/17

So here is chapter 2! What do you all think?

Please do not think I am in anyway belittling abuse. I'm not the most detailed writer but I did try to show the topic the proper seriousness.

Thanks so much for the Subscriptions and comments! It means a lot that there are people out there that are interested in this! If you do like it I would love to hear from you!

~O::O::O~


	3. Young Friend

Amicitia (Latin): Friendship

~O::O::O~

After Rose is taken from the Dursleys she is put into a foster home. The process of adoption is not something that happens overnight, and it really just depends on if the right match can be found. She is a bit weird and different, so it will take a while for someone to come along that matches up with her personality.

In the meantime, she lives in a foster home with four other orphans. She knows it is an in between place, a place to stay until they can find someone that wants her. So, she tries not to become attached to the people around her. The foster workers she is staying with think she is a bit anti-social. She doesn't try to dissuade their perception.

It has been years since she has had friends. Those that are her physical age are not typically mentally competent enough for her to wish to interact with, and those that she wouldn't mind talking to treat her like a very small child. Not to mention she has always been shy, and now she has developed a habit of talking to someone in her head. She tends to observe and think about the world much more then interact with it.

They enroll her in a new school closer to her new home. Since they believe she needs more interaction with children her age, half of her classes are with her age mates while the other half are with older children. She is very advanced in subjects like Math and English, so those are the classes she takes with the older kids, but the things like history, physical education, and recess are things she does with her age mates.

It's in her history class that she meets Hermione Granger. She doesn't recognize the child at first, but when a teacher calls on her to answer a more advanced question, it is quite obvious. Later at recess when she sees some other kids picking on poor little Hermione, Rose, with just the slightest nudge from Faunus, steps in to stop them. The fact that she has a new life does not stop her mother bear tendencies.

Hermione likes to chatter away about different things she has learned. She is fascinated with how the world works and wants to know everything there is to know. Most kids pick on her for this. They don't like the fact that she knows more than them and generally get bored from the way she tries to mentally dissect everything.

The fact that other kids don't seem to like her makes her lonely. So, she tries even harder in classes to get the teachers attention and praise. This in turn only makes the other children dislike her more.

Rose is different from the other kids. She does not resent Hermione's intelligence, in fact she encourages it. When Hermione rattles on about different things Rose sits quietly and listens. If she is asked a question she answers it and often asks one back, often encouraging Hermione to think outside of the box.

Hermione and Rose become fast friends. They are both very advanced for their physical age, though Rose much more so, and thus have a lot in common. When Rose first introduces herself as Harry she stumbles over the name slightly, almost introducing herself as Rose instead, it is a mistake she is still making mostly because she doesn't usually have to introduce herself at all. Hermione is one of the few who don't tease her for the slip.

~O::O::O~

In her past life Rose lived in a time where the internet was expanding in leaps and bounds and information was easy to find. Growing up she had never really felt particularly girly, people often called her a tom boy.

When she was young she didn't think about it very much. She was who she was and it never really mattered to her if she followed the current trends, or if she was different than the other girls around her. Most of her friends were either other tom boys or actual boys anyway.

Her parents were pretty open about being different. They didn't push society's ideals onto her. Thus, she escaped a lot of the early gender conditioning that most children went through. She still got it here and there. She did interact with people other than just her family, and her parents weren't perfect, but she never really felt like something was wrong back then. It was an easier time in her life.

After going through puberty Rose got more curious. She had never been a particularly social person, but she knew how to search the web. The LGBTQ community was something she became very interested in. There was something about the personal stories she read that called to a part of he that had been buried for a long time.

She read numerous articles and blogs written by people in the community. She did hours and hours of research into the different categories people put themselves into. She watched hours of transition videos, and spent even longer simply contemplating what it meant to be a man and what it meant to be a woman. She read research journals and thought about her own life.

At the end of her desperate search Rose decided that she didn't really fit into the gender binary. Most days she felt more masculine than feminine, but honestly it could change from one day to the next. Most of the time she didn't even really think about gender.

In the long run for her, it didn't really matter what she was, what mattered was who she was. She hated when people tried to tell her how she should act based on her gender, but otherwise it didn't bother her when people just assumed she was a woman and not a man.

Some days she really wished she could have a male body, but for multiple reasons surgery just wasn't something she felt comfortable with. On the days she felt particularly masculine she would where minimizing sports bras and men's clothes, and on the days she felt particularly feminine she would wear a pretty dress or style her hair different. Most days she felt like some mix in between and didn't really think about the way she was dressed.

The only real reason she didn't ask people to use non-gendered pronouns was the convenience. She was used to female pronouns so she used them. She knew a lot of people that really struggled with their pronouns. People that wanted others to see them the way they saw themselves. People that just wanted the common courtesy of having someone use their preferred names.

On some level Rose felt lucky that these things didn't bother her. She would of course use peoples preferred names and pronouns. She respected the strength it took them to stand up for who they are.

For her specifically though, she would really have to struggle to get people to use other pronouns. Her face was very feminine and her weight made it so that no matter how much she bound her chest, her boobs would always show. So she let it be, it was more convenient for her that way.

In her new life though things were very, very different. The biggest difference being of course that now her body was male. For the most part this was actually more comfortable as she did identify more masculine than feminine, but in the long run it was actually quite a bit harder.

In her old life she could wear men's clothes when she felt like it and no one would say a damn thing. In this life though, it wasn't even 1990 yet. The Internet had yet to take off and it was less than twenty years ago that the term transgender was used for the first time, instead of transsexual.

In this life she was a boy. Even if it _was_ the same year as the one she had left, a man wearing a dress was looked at much more critically than a woman wearing a suit. In this life most adults were still telling little boys to toughen up, and never cry.

Everyone used male pronouns when referring to her, and they all called her Harry. She wasn't used to it, and it really made her think about what she planned to do in the future. Would she live the rest of her life as a male named Harry?

She never talks about her gender or sexuality around her foster family, but she does keep an ear out for their beliefs. It's after dinner a few months into her stay with them that it becomes apparent she will never feel safe coming out to them.

They are watching a news program on the television when a gay man is interviewed. Their snide comments are so obviously homophobic and hetero-normative. They unknowingly make it quite clear to her that they will never accept her for who she is. She sighs and goes up to her room to read a book.

~O::O::O~

Rose likes to spend time at Hermione's house. Her parents are used to having an advanced child and don't treat her like an idiot. They ask her for her opinions and they don't talk over her head like she can't understand them. They are both very kind people.

Rose and Hermione spend a lot of time reading together or playing games. Sometimes they just talk, and it's wonderful. Though Hermione does way more of the talking, neither of them mind. Hermione is different than anyone else Rose has met in her entire second life.

Hermione sees that Rose is more advanced than her, but it doesn't frighten or bore her like it does for most other children her age. They are both each other's first friend. Rose can see from her experience in her last life that the friendship she shares with Hermione is something special.

In some ways Hermione looks up to Harry. He is her first friend and he is very kind and smart. She is not afraid to open up to him because they are the same age, and a lot of the time he gives good advice. She develops a slight crush on him, but eventually it fades as they become the best of friends.

They ground each other in a way that no one else does. For Hermione the positive attention she receives from someone her own age goes a long way to smoothing out her own anxieties. She is still intelligent and inquisitive and she works hard on her schooling, but she no longer feels as though she must prove herself to her peers and teachers. Harry accepts her, her parents accept her and that is enough.

For Rose Hermione gives her a real living connection to this world. She makes her think about and live in the here and now. She still spends time plotting and planning, but nowhere near as much. Additionally, she helps her learn to socialize with people again. Rose will never ever be a social butterfly, but Hermione helps her come out of her shell.

Rose comes to Hermione's house after school almost every day. They even try to meet up over the weekends when they can. The first time they ask Hermione's parents if they can have a sleepover the Grangers are a little unsure.

They talk to Rose's foster parents to see what they think. Surprisingly they are very open to the idea. They tell the Grangers that Hermione is Harry's only friend, and as long as they sleep in the living room where her parents can check in on them at any time, it will be good for Harry to spend more time with other children.

Harry might not like his foster parents but both them and his social worker care very deeply about him. They closely monitor his emotions and interactions and they know that Hermione is helping him through a very hard part of his life. They hope desperately it will be enough to get him through later years.

So as long as both children behave well over the week, sleep overs become a common occurrence on the weekends. Hermione comes to Rose's house a few times, but neither of them get along with the other children in the house and prefer to be at Hermione's place.

~O::O::O~

Rose is seven when she finally decides to come out to Hermione. They've been friends for just over a year now, and Rose feels she can trust Hermione with almost anything.

Well not really anything. She doesn't tell her about the fact that this is her second life, or that she can hear the voice of a God in her head, or that she can see the future in little snippets of sound and color, or even that they are both magical and will go to a boarding school together after they turn eleven.

If you put it into perspective coming out about her gender and sexual orientation is really only the first of a long list of things she will likely have to admit to her best friend. That day though it is a big first step and she decides to make it.

Hermione takes it all very well. The fact that Rose likes other boys is not something new to Hermione. She had guessed that was the case before hand, but had not wanted to offend her if she got it wrong. It was also something that Hermione had talked with her parents about before.

The Grangers were very open with their daughter so Hermione knows what it means to be gay, and that it is perfectly alright. They also warn her that some people do not think it's alright at all and may even take violent actions. That is the first time Hermione feels the violent swell of anger at injustice race through her veins. It is the same type of swell that will one day bring about the creation of S.P.E.W. But for now, it just brings about angry tears.

The thing about Rose's gender is something not as well known about, but Hermione will always support Rose, her first and only friend. It is during this discussion that Rose is finally faced with questions regarding gender pronouns.

"You said sometimes you feel like a boy but sometimes you feel like a girl, so how should I refer to you?" little Hermione asks kindly.

"That's something I've been contemplating for a while now Hermione. Most people just call me a guy, and it'd be weird to use female pronouns all the time. Especially because so many people aren't alright with that kind of thing, and really you're the only one that knows anyway."

"Alright then, how about in public I'll use male pronouns, but if were here and you feel feminine give me a sign and I'll use female pronouns?" Hermione asks hesitantly.

This is pretty new to her and she doesn't want to offend her friend. Like usual Harry spends a large amount of time quietly contemplating her answer. Hermione has learned that this is normal for Harry and to simply wait for his answer. If you tried to push him to speak before he was ready he would simply clam up and not answer at all.

"Well that sounds nice in a way, but honestly I don't particularly feel masculine or feminine like seventy or eighty percent of the time anyway. So it still wouldn't really feel right most of the time, what's the point in all that work to try and change the way you speak when it would still be off?"

"The point is that you're my friend and I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable in your own skin! I care about you Harry, it's not pointless to make you want to feel comfortable!" and there was Hermione's sense of justice coming out again.

It didn't upset Rose that Hermione sounded like she was scolding her. In fact, it made her feel appreciated. She knew Hermione was only getting so passionate because she cared. She felt herself blush slightly and directed her gaze at her hands folded in her lap. A slight smile peeking out of her lips.

"You said sometimes it makes you uncomfortable when people just assume your male, well I don't want to do that. So, we should think of something..." Hermione brought a hand to her chin and scrunched up her face into her thinking pose.

Rose had an idea, but hesitated for a moment to speak. Just then she had a vision, quick as a flash, of a face smiling down at her. The face was clearly that of a young man with red hair, freckles and blue eyes. She did not know precisely who it was. There were many people who had similar coloring that she would one day meet.

Additionally, she had already learned when she met Hermione, that the people in the movies that had been adapted from the books her life was now based on were definitely not the people who actually lived in this world. After all no matter how much, she grew and developed with age Hermione would never suddenly become white.

So, the vision was likely one of the Weasley siblings, but she had no idea which. The remarkable thing however was that the vision seemed to infuse her with comfort and confidence. Whoever he was, just a fleeting glimpse of his smile made her feel like everything was alright. She had the confidence to propose her idea.

"What if... what if you used gender neutral pronouns? I'm young enough that if I dressed right people probably wouldn't even know if I was a boy or a girl and they would probably just do the same... well except we don't really go anywhere new, and everyone already just assumes I'm male... never mind."

"No that's a good idea! I doubt anyone would really say anything and at least I could do it so you feel comfortable with being who you are around me!"

"Really? You'd go that far for me? Even if it wouldn't change the way others acted? Just to make me feel comfortable?"

"Of course Harry! You're my best friend! You know that right? I'd do anything for you!"

"Thanks Hermione I really appreciate it!" Rose said earnestly with another blush upon her face.

"Of course!... Um one thing though... What are the gender-neutral pronouns?" Hermione asked sheepishly. Rose gave a slight laugh at Hermione's expression, and explained with a fond look.

"They, their, and them. It can get a bit confusing since your used to using that for multiple people, but once you've used it enough it gets easier."

"Alright then, and what about your name? Are you happy with Harry? It's a very masculine name and I've notice you slip up with it sometimes. Do you want to choose something different? You know you can legally change your name?" Hermione explained, excited to share what she thought would be new information.

"I don't think my legal guardians would let me do that though." Rose said with a frown. Hermione stopped to think for a minute.

"Well you could pick something now and I'd use it and I bet my parents would to, and you can always ask your guardians, but even if they say no we can still use it so you get comfortable. Oh! Maybe when you get adopted your new parents will let you change it and again even if not, you can do it when you turn eighteen and I'll always use it!" Hermione went on excited.

"Well I've never really liked Harry..." Rose started hesitantly.

It didn't take long for Hermione to convince Rose and then they started debating what name to change to. Hermione suggested quite a few feminine names, but Rose wanted something more neutral. Something that could be a boy's name or a girl's name. Something you wouldn't assume right off just by hearing it.

Hermione convinced her parents to take them to the library that very day. It wasn't hard as it was an activity that they did very frequently. There they found a few different books of baby names and got to work. They wrote down different names that were unisex that sounded decent.

Eventually they came to the name Harley and Rose instantly fell in love. It was a name that was unisex, but a little more popular with boys. It seemed to fit well, and it sounded similar enough to Harry that they would have an easier time adjusting to it than she had originally had adjusting to Harry. It took a bit to get used to, but soon it felt more natural then Harry ever had.

Harley also decided to start mentally referring to himself as a boy, since that was how he felt more often. If he was feeling feminine then in his head he would use female pronouns. Hermione immediately started using neutral pronouns. A few people asked about it, but they simply replayed that Harley felt more comfortable that way. They didn't explain that it had to do with gender, and most people didn't even ask.

The Grangers asked the most questions. Though they didn't seem upset just curious. They wanted to know why Hermione was suddenly calling Harry Harley. Eventually Harley gave in and explained it all to them. Coming out of the closet for the second time in less than two weeks.

The Grangers were very supportive of Harley and agreed to start using that name when referring to him. They also started using gender neutral pronouns. They did seem to mess up more often than Hermione, but they were trying so Harley was happy.

When the Grangers encouraged Harley to tell his foster parents the truth Harley drew the line. He explained that it was a bad idea because his foster parents were homophobic.

The Grangers grew worried at this and approached Harley's social worker without telling him. The social worker, June, was the same woman that had gotten Harley out of the house with the Dursleys and was thus very attached to Harley.

June made extensive notes on the things that the Grangers had to say, but explained unless something happened they couldn't just move Harley. There weren't that many foster parents in the area and Harley had already settled. After all he had been there for a little over a year.

June did exchange numbers with the Granger and told them to contact her if anything happened or changed with Harley. She did worry for him, and it was good to be informed. The Grangers left a very good impression with June. She knew they really cared for Harley.

Additionally, June was able to see Harley's face light up with happiness the next time she did a home inspection and called them Harley whilst seamlessly slipping into gender neutral pronouns. After all June's younger sister preferred gender neutral pronouns, so she was used to it.

After that meeting Harley finally felt comfortable asking his foster parents to call him by the name he had chosen. He did not mention that it had anything to do with gender and he did not bring up his pronouns. He simply said that he did not like the name Harry and wanted to change it. It was a good thing the name he had chosen was not more feminine, because with a little bit of convincing they agreed.

He even started asking the teachers and other students at his school to start calling him Harley. Most of the teachers for the classes he shared with the older kids agreed, where as more of those for the younger kids didn't. With the kids it was a mixed thing, but Harley tried to stay positive. Finally, his life was starting to feel comfortable, at the very least when he was with the Grangers he felt safe being himself.

~O::O::O~

1728 words added as of 8/26/17

I'm on a role you guys! Thanks everyone for the Kudos, Bookmark, and Subscriptions! Knowing people out there are reading this really makes me want to write more. Please think about writing a comment as well XD

Edit: 1/23/17 thx Nanettez I went back and fixed the then/than problems.

~O::O::O~


	4. Family of Choice

Proximi mei, meum fundamentum (Latin): My family, my foundation

~O::O::O~

There have been a few families that have come to meet Harley and see if he is the right child for them. As much as he doesn't like his foster family and would like a real family to call his own, none of them are the right match for him.

He doesn't tell anyone that the main reason why he always says he doesn't like them is because they all live more than an hour away and he knows if he goes with them he will not likely see Hermione again until they go to Hogwarts.

His foster family are becoming worried that he can't match up with any of the couples. All of their other kids have already been adopted into steady homes, and it seems like they don't plan to take any more on. They are simply waiting for him to get out of their hair so they can move on with their lives.

(Harley doesn't realize that the reason his foster family hasn't taken on any more kids is because they are worried about his development. They want to spend more time focusing on him. Harley might not like them, but they do actually care about him. Even if they don't understand that he is just different and will never trust them.)

About half a year after Harley has come out to his best friend and her family things start to change again. His foster family have decided that he can no longer spend the night at Hermione's house. At seven and a half they think he is becoming too old to be sleeping at a girls place.

They are also becoming worried that he only has one friend who is a girl. So, they keep trying to 'encourage' him to make male friends. Part of this likely has to do with the fact that they have noticed the Grangers using gender neutral pronouns when referring to Harley. They might not fully understand the implications of it, but they think that Harley is a boy and should be referred to as such.

They are typical traditionalist that think boys should do manly things. They should never cry. Female friends are alright, but only until it starts making you girly. Then you should really buck up and make manly friends to better influence you.

Harley hates the attitude and little comments they sneak into everyday life, but he does his best to ignore them. After a few more months of no change they decide to take measures into their own hands.

They sign him up for Rugby, and he _hates_ it. Practice is after school until six at night, every Monday through Friday. So, he can only go to Hermione's on the weekend now. He doesn't particularly like the other boys on the team either. A couple of the bigger boys like to pick on him for his small size.

Not to mention that of all the sports out there to choose from Rugby is one of the ones that Harley has never even held the faintest interest in. The game is quite violent, and if he ever gets the ball he usually ends up tackled into the mud.

During most of the games the coach is yelling at him to get into all of the action. He doesn't like to, but the yelling is really hard on him. He has cried a few times when it got to be too much, but the coach tells him to toughen up, and the bigger boys get a new reason to pick on him.

The only one he tells this all to is Hermione. He doesn't trust his foster family to not make it worse. He has thought about mentioning it to Hermiones parents, but if they say something to his foster family, they might just outright ban him from going to Hermione's and he won't risk that.

The only thing he does like about the rugby team is when they do exercises instead of practice games. He is faster than almost all of the other boys, and loves to run past them when doing laps.

Exercise is not something he has ever been able to enjoy before, as he hadn't been athletic at all in his first life. Now the freedom he feels as he practically flies through the air is one of the few things he enjoys in life.

~O::O::O~

Dr. Granger is becoming very worried about little Harley. Their foster family is hardly letting them come over to the Granger's house anymore. She expects they think her family is a bad influence. When in reality she knows it is them that are not good for Harley.

She has seen the way Harley acts when their foster family is around. They shut down almost completely. They don't laugh, or smile, or make any of their silly little jokes. She knows that a lot of kids clam up around adults, but that is clearly not the problem, because Harley has no trouble talking around her or her husband.

They may be a little quiet here and there, but it's a very different expression they were on their face at those moments. Like they are thinking something a little too mischievous to say in front of the adults. Whereas with their foster family they just go completely silent, all the time.

She's been worried about Hermione as well; her little girl seems really down recently. She is clearly lonely without Harley around all the time. Today should be a good day though. It's a Saturday and Harley has gotten permission to spend the whole day over at their house. All week Hermione had been talking about all the different things she and Harley are going to do together today.

Right now, the two of them are playing in Hermione's room. She has decided to surprise them with some homemade peanut butter cookies, because those are Harley's favorite. Of course, she'll make them both brush their teeth after their done, Harley's had their own tooth brush here for almost eight months now.

So, she makes the cookies and once they've cooled she put enough for them each to have a couple on a big plate. She puts the plate on a serving tray with two cups and a pitcher of milk. Finally, she sneaks down the hall to give them their surprise.

She stops short just beside Hermione's bedroom. The door is open, a rule Harley's foster parents had made very clear would have to be followed if Harley would be allowed to keep coming over. Dr. Granger thinks it's a little silly, even before they had decided to tell her and her husband she had known Harley was gay. It was quite obvious from the way their eyes lingered on older men but not older women.

(She doesn't realize that Harley is just especially picky when it comes to what type of women they are attracted to. In this day and age a woman that presents themselves in the way they appreciate most likely wouldn't be interested in men anyway.)

Anyway, even with the door open from the angle she is at, the children will not be able to see her. This is good because she can hear quite crying, and she wants to know what's going on before she makes her presence known.

"I'm sorry Harley, I wish there was something I could do." Hermione sounds so dejected.

"It's not your fault I'll never be good enough for them... I just wish someone from around here would adopt me. Then I'd have a real family and I wouldn't have to lose you and your parents either."

"Harley, maybe..." Hermione hesitates.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe the next time someone comes to meet you... Maybe you should give them a chance... I mean even if you live farther away I'm sure we could still meet up on the weekends. Maybe you'll be happier then?"

"NO! I-I can't do that Hermione! What if they don't let me visit? I couldn't risk losing you or your parents... you guys are everything to me." At the end Harley's voice tapers off before picking up again much stronger.

"I'm sure things will change when summer comes around. They can't keep making me play _stupid_ rugby when they know I hate it! They just can't."

Harley sounds so desperate. Like they are trying to convince themselves even more than they are trying to convince Hermione.

"But Harley... What if it gets worse? Didn't you say your foster mom keeps telling your foster dad that you'll toughen up once you hit puberty? What happens when that doesn't happen, because you know it won't! Puberty isn't going to change who you are as a person, it doesn't work that way."

"I know Hermione, but I'll figure something else out before that happens."

Hermione makes a disgruntled sound, but clearly the argument is over. Harley has stopped crying by now, even though they still sound shaken up. Time to distract them with cookies, hopefully that will help. Afterword's she has some phone calls to make. Things can't keep going like this and Dr. Granger has a plan that just might work.

"Hey little munchkins, look at what I got!"

Hermione makes a huffing sound and the title but smiles anyway. Harley's face lights up when they see that the cookies are peanut butter. Her job here is done, at least for now.

~O::O::O~

It's a few months later when Harley finally finds out what it was that Hermione's mom had planned. Harley is being adopted, and it is amazing, because Harley is being adopted by the Grangers.

It is everything he has wanted these past few years, but had been too afraid to ask for. Harley will have parents again, even if they aren't his blood relatives. He will get to stay with Hermione until he grows up, and will even get to call her his sister.

He will be surrounded by people that love him. People that accept him for who he is. He won't have to be afraid that one day he will do something wrong, let the wrong thing slip and suddenly be homeless. He won't have to do the things he hates doing, because someone he doesn't even like has decided it will make him manlier.

It will be a few more months until they can make things official, but they have started the process, and it looks like no one wants to stand in the way. They can all see that Harley is at home with the Grangers. The two doctors are wonderful parents already, and adding a child that already fits with them so well is the only right choice.

Just one month before Harley's eighth birthday the adoption goes through and everything becomes official. Dr. and Dr. Granger are now Harleys legal guardians. It may be a while before they become a fully integrated family, but the process is already well on its way.

~O::O::O~

The clothes you wear don't determine your gender. A man can wear a dress and that doesn't make him a woman. A woman can wear a suit and she is not suddenly male.

The private bits of your body don't determine your gender either. A man can be born with a vagina, and that doesn't make him any less male. A woman can have a penis and she is no less woman for it.

Your gender is not based on your behavior either. Men can be gentle , woman can be tough. Based on all the studies she had read in her past life Harley knows that gender comes from the individuals mind.

The mind tells the individual who they are, and it usually starts from a young age. Most people who are transgender know that they have been assigned the wrong gender at birth when they are very young.

This does not mean that those that come out later in life are anything less than they say. Usually it just means they have had to live in pain for longer. Some people have a hard time identifying with either gender. Some identify with both. Genderfluid was the term that once upon a time Harley had decided described her best.

How Harley saw it to be genderfluid meant that she felt she was both genders. Sometimes one, sometimes the other, but usually a combination of both. It wasn't like an on/off switch. She couldn't change from one to the other in the blink of an eye. It was a fluid change.

Harley saw gender as a spectrum with male on one side and female on the other, with a fuzzy middle ground that was a mixture of both. On that spectrum she was the slider that slowly slipped back and forth between the two sides.

Usually she was in the very center, or closer to the male side, it was less likely for her to be towards the female side. It was even rarer for her to be completely on one side or the other. Even when she was leaning towards male or female she was usually still somewhat in the middle

Some people described this differently, a triangle or a circle. That was more confusing though so she just liked to think of it as a slider bar. That didn't mean the others were wrong, she just preferred to focus on the parts that she had some familiarity with.

Whether she was feeling more male or female her personality did not change, she was simply who she was. What did change, at least sometimes, was how she wished to express herself.

While clothes did not define gender, clothes did change how people perceived you. It was all about presentation, jeans made you look casual, a suit made you look formal, and so on and so forth. This was not some inherent property of the clothes themselves, but how a society portrayed those clothes.

For Harley wearing a dress was something she did because she wanted to feel feminine, pretty, or cute. It wasn't so much about how the world saw her, because in this world people would not likely think those things when she was wearing a dress. It was about the fact that when she was growing up her culture taught her that a dress made you those things and so that was how it made her feel.

This did not mean that Harley would where dresses and skirts whenever she was leaning toward or even feeling fully feminine. You have to remember that she grew up in a time where woman whore pants all the time, and it didn't make them less female. She didn't however tend to wear a dress or skirts on days where she was feeling more masculine.

Usually when she was feeling particularly masculine she liked to where a nice button up shirt with slacks. Most days however she would were casual clothes, t-shirts, jeans, cargo shorts and the like.

Most days she felt mixed enough that clothing chooses didn't really bother her. One of her favorite outfits was actually a white button up shirt paired with a puffy black skirt and her favorite green converse. Sadly, she rarely had occasion enough to where said outfit.

Before all that though when Harley was first getting situated in the Granger Household she would often barrow a bit of Hermione's clothes. It was mostly the shirts, because even at their age designers cut boys and girls clothing just slightly differently. It didn't matter to them that all children at their age had the same basic shape.

All of the clothes that Harley had brought with her from her previous home was very masculine. Hermione's parents noticed but didn't think about it overly much. They didn't mind that their children were sharing clothes.

It was only a few months after they adopted her, when Dr. Granger found Harley in front of the mirror wearing one of Hermione's few dresses. That was the point that she realized maybe her children weren't just sharing clothes maybe Harley just wanted some feminine clothes of her own.

"Harley sweetie." Dr. Granger asked gently.

Harley turned around as quick as a startled cat. Her eyes widened and a blush stained her cheeks. She quickly looked down at her feet and wrapped her arms around her bare shoulders.

"Yes, Dr. Granger?" Harley asked guiltily.

Hermione looked up worriedly from where she had been laying on the bed reading. She knew her parents 'you're in trouble' voice, and that definitely wasn't it, but Harley was acting as if it had been.

"... Harley, I told you already to call me Jane. There is no need to be so formal, but more importantly..." She stepped up to Harley and put her hands upon Harley's own, gently pulling them away from her shoulders as she squatted down in front of the child.

"You know this family loves you very much. We adopted you because we want to take care of you. We are doing everything we know how to do, but you are a unique child and sometimes we don't realize everything. We aren't psychic. So, if you ever need anything that we don't think of you should tell us. Alright sweetie?"

Harley nodded and made tentative eye contact. Jane could tell they still weren't quite getting it.

"That means, if you wanted some feminine clothes of your own all you needed to do was ask. Of course, we can't buy you a whole new wardrobe in the middle of the school year, especially since your clothes still fit you fine but something like this we can do. And before school starts next year we will get you even more and you can pick anything you like, alright?"

Harley's smile was brilliant. She felt truly happy to have a family that understood her. She glanced at Hermione who was now sitting up on the bed and they exchanged smiles.

The very next day Mrs. Granger took Harley and Hermione to the mall. Harley was able to pick out three new shirts, a pair of girl's pants, one frilly skirt, one squirt, one summer dress, and three new pairs of shoes.

It was not a full wardrobe but it was more than enough to make her feel like she could be whoever she wanted. She even found a necklace of a pan flute that she was immediately drawn to. She knew that was Faunus's symbol and just had to have it.

Of course, until her hair grew out from the buzz cut her foster parents had forced her to have she would look a little odd in some of her new clothes. She didn't care though because she had the ability to dress however she wanted. She was free to present herself the way she felt inside.

"Thank you, mom." She says quietly on their way home from the mall. She means for much more than the new clothes. She means for the caring and acceptance that they symbolize. For taking her into their home and making her their family. Luckily Jane knows how to read between the lines. She runs her hand along Harley's fuzzy head with a smile.

"Of course, sweetheart. We'll always be here for you now. No matter what, we're here because we're your family." The tear that slides down Harley's face doesn't go unnoticed, but it isn't mentioned. The smile that radiates off her face is enough to tell the whole world she is truly happy.

~O::O::O~

901 words added as of 8/26/17

So here you'll see how Harley's pronouns will be addressed through the story. It'll switch between male and female pretty randomly. There will be more in male perspective because Harley feels male more often.

Whereas in scenes from other people's prospective Harley will be refereed to using using they/them pronouns. If the character does not know or acknowledge Harley's genderfluidity they will refer to them using male pronouns.

What do you all think? I'd love to hear the readers opinions.

Edit 2/2/17 I went back and edited all the chapters again for some errors that had been pointed out to me.  
Thank you Rinko22 Nanettez and Nekoburi for pointing out my errors!


	5. Revalations

Secreta Psalmorum (Latin): Secrets revealed

~O::O::O~

So far Harley's new family is doing pretty well with them coming out of the closet. The Grangers have never been big on treating people as gender stereotypes defined them anyway. After all, their first child is studious, suborn and proud, not really a girly-girl by any stereotype's definition.

Mr. Granger is pretty surprised the first time he comes home to find Harley wearing a dress, but he quickly adapts. He has found, no matter what gender Harley is feeling more in-tune with, really, they just want to be treated like a person. As the child's new father, he will try his best to make them feel comfortable.

Harley is quick to ask to be taken off of the rugby team. They make it clear they have never liked playing the sport. Not even a week later though and they are really missing the running. Mr. Granger, who has been jogging in the mornings for many years, invites Harley to join him on his jogs.

He has to start jogging early then he used to, since Harley has to be at school earlier then he needs to be at work, but the earlier start to the morning is well worth the smile on their face. Plus, it's a good for their relationship. They now have plenty of time each morning to talk and bond.

Mr. Granger quickly learns that Harley likes to exercise, running being one of their favorite things to do that isn't studying or listening to weird new American music. It is the competitive sports that Harley is not a fan of, especially those that contain physical contact.

After learning all of this Mr. Granger is quite surprised one morning when running with Harley on a new route. They are passing by one of those martial arts places that teaches adults and kids alike. Mr. Granger knows that there are different types of martial arts, from different places, with different focuses, but he honestly doesn't know anything more than that.

All he does know is that he can see a group of kids through the window ranging in age from young children all the way up to young adults. They are all practicing some type of high kick, that seems to be aimed above their own heads. Harley stops, something they simply don't do during their morning runs, and stares through the window with a twinkle in their eyes.

Mr. Granger stops as well and waits. He is expecting Harley to say something, anything really, but nothing comes. After a few minutes of doing nothing but staring through a tinted window, Mr. Granger thinks bitterly of Harley's horrible relatives.

The child never seems to ask for anything. Whether it's another portion at dinner time or a new pair of pants because their old ones have gotten holes. The Granger's have found that they have to offer Harley things, rather than wait for them to ask for what they need.

June has warned them this can be a common trait of children that come from abusive homes. The only thing they can do is be reasonable and steady. Give them time to ask, but if they don't then offer. They also warned not to push, as some children also have a hard time saying no. It is a hard-balancing act, but both Mr. and Ms. Granger try their best.

"Do you like martial arts?" Mr. Granger asks with a kind smile. He is hoping that getting Harley to at least start talking again will help. Harley startles slightly like they had forgotten he was even there. They look up with a sheepish smile.

"I've never tried it, but it looks really cool. It'd be nice to be able to defend myself... Should we keep going then?" Harley asks as they look forward again with a slight blush on their face.

"In a minute or two, maybe. I'd really like to hear more about your interest. What makes you feel like you need to defend yourself?"

"Well... It's hard being so small sometimes. People never take me seriously. Sometimes they just think I'm being stubborn and immature. If they feel like it they can decide to just pick you up and do what they want. There is nothing I can do then, you know?"

This is all said with a distant air, like Harley isn't really paying attention. Their eyes have even drifted back to the dojo window. Mr. Granger is glad they are starting to drop their guard around him, but also worried at the things they have said. He crouches down in front of Harley, instantly gaining their full attention.

"Harley, has someone been treating you that way? Making you do things you don't want to? Using brute strength or otherwise?" His tone is deadly serious and Harley looks away again with a deeper blush.

"Ah, not recently no. It's just... when I was younger... Sometimes the Dursleys wouldn't care what I had to say. They would just pick me up and throw me in my cupboard, or in the bath or whatever... I mean it's not a big deal- I just always hated feeling so helpless."

"That is a big deal sweetie. Look at me." When he has their full attention again he continues.

"The Dursleys are horrible people, they did a lot of things to you that you didn't know were wrong, or if you did you ignored it because that's what you were used to. That doesn't make it alright!" He has to take a quick breath to calm his anger. There is no point in scaring Harley away.

"If anyone ever treats you that way you tell us, alright? This is really important. It doesn't matter who it is, if anyone ever treats you in a way that doesn't seem right, or is weird or off, you come tell me or Jane or June, alright? Even if it's embarrassing, we will understand and protect you. You're our child and that's our job, Got it?"

Harley nods seriously, keeping eye contact.

"I won't let people mistreat me again." Their voice is strong and determined. Mr. Granger is quite proud of them. He places his hand upon their head and rubs gently.

"Good. Now, do you want to go get enrolled in a class?" He asks as he stands from his crouch and nods towards the dojo. Harley's eyes dart back to the kids, who have moved on to punching, then dart back to him as quick as a flash. A wide grin overtakes their face, and their eyes brighten significantly.

"Oh! Can I!? But I don't want to stop running with you! Do you think they have classes at a different time? Like after school? Maybe Hermione will want to join with me, she needs to get out of the house more often and it would be good for her to learn to defend herself! Oh, I'm so excited let's go look at their times!"

Harley babbled on like a hurricane. Mr. Granger is surprised, but also very happy. He has never seen them so excited about something before. Their run is delayed by a full thirty minutes.

They no longer have time for showers and only have time to eat toast on the way to work and school, but Harley is ecstatic the entire rest of the day. The excitement alone is more than worth it for Mr. Granger. They have signed Harley up for a beginner's classes in the afternoons and have been assured that if Hermione wants to join there is still plenty of room for her in the class.

As they are exiting the building, with a new training scheduled for Harley and a wallet quite a bit lighter for Mr. Granger, Harley does something that makes everything they've been struggling for worth it, and so much more for Mr. Granger. They lace one of their little hands through his and whisper, almost too quiet to hear.

"Thank you, Dad." Harley means for more than just the class. For the talk that made them feel like a worthwhile person again. For reminding them that they don't have to put up with mistreatment anymore. For including them in his life.

For making them feel normal, even with all the things about them that make them so different. For excepting them, and loving them, and taking them in when they didn't think anyone ever would. For making them feel safe, like they could be a kid again, and let the adults make the hard decision.

Yet also for letting them choose. For knowing they are mature enough to know who they are and what they want. Harley wants to say it all, but they don't quite know how. They've never been good with words. Yet Mr. Granger understands. That one word says almost everything, and the tone says the rest. He squeezes their hand and keeps walking, a grin on his face.

"Of course, sweetie, that's what dads are for."

~O::O::O~

Later Harley even convinces Hermione to join the class with her. Though it takes many hours of puppy dog eyes and a very thorough argument on the prominence of violent crimes against colored woman (for Hermione's safety) and those in the LGBTQ community (for Harley's) to actually get Hermione to give it a chance.

Hermione might like to learn, but she is more of a book person then an athlete, so she had put up a bit of protest at first. By the end of the discussion however, Hermione is a ball of righteous fury. Harley recognizes the early signs of a woman that will one day create a controversial but well-meaning group called S.P.E.W.

Incidentally the argument is overheard by the Granger parents, who get a bit of a wakeup call regarding the safety of their children. In addition to the martial arts classes for the kids, the entire family signs up for a month-long self-defense course.

That night Hermione and Harley make a blanket fort between the beds in their room. They giggle and talk most of the night away. Turning off their flashlight and pretending to be asleep whenever one of their parents comes by to check on them.

It is there in the wee hours of the morning, surrounded by soft pillows and warm blankets that Harley tells Hermione about the talk she'd had with their father, and the subsequent acceptance of such a title of honor. Hermione is overjoyed, saying they really are now officially sisters.

She pauses on the title, unsure for a moment on the gendered term, but Harley quickly agrees. It has been many years, but she has always seen herself as a sister. There was a certain comradery she felt in the term that seemed stronger than simply siblings.

This was something she told Hermione, though leaving out the bit about being a sister before. They would always be sisters. No matter what happened in the future, or what gender she was feeling, she was proud to be Hermione's sister.

It was a title she had held before, and cherished. Sister and Aunt were dear outfits she had missed wearing. Now she had at least one of them back. Though it would be many years until she got the other, she was quite satisfied.

For some reason the title Daughter or Son felt different, somehow more gendered, but she would be happy for her new parents to call her their child. She'd have to tell them about it in the morning, for now she was happy to be a sister.

~O::O::O~

Harley has always hated lying. When people lied to him in the past it always made him very upset. So, throughout Harley's first life he had tried his hardest to never lie. Of course, there were situations where it couldn't really be helped, as Harley hated making people upset as well. Still in comparison to the average populace, Harley is almost startlingly honest.

So far in his second life though, Harley has had to lie pretty often. Most of the time he lies by omission, but it still upsets him. Not to mention he has never been particularly good at lying. He has had to adapt though, and lying has become an easy defense mechanism. As well as an almost daily occurrence.

Hi my name is Harry Potter (No, it used to be Rose, and now its Harley). I'm eight years old (I was in my twenties before I came here, I don't really know how old I am anymore). I'm a boy (Not always, gender is very confusing). I like girls (but I usually like boys more). I just really like to read (I've taken all these classes before. I used to be in college).

My parents died in a car crash (Actually I'm not sure if one of my mother's is dead or alive as I was the one that died and left that world behind. The other mother was murdered by a psychotic wizard. I have mourned for years for both of my original fathers).

I was so young that I don't remember anything about my birth parents death (Actually I can remember everything from the day I was reborn into this body. Including but not limited to the fact that I watched one of my mother's die and lay unmoving on the floor for an hour. I still have nightmares of watching her fall dead, red hair splayed around her like blood.)

Sorry I must have zoned out (Sorry there is a God talking to me in my head/I just had a vision of the future). I'm just not very good at talking to kids my age (There all so boring and immature, and not really my age anyway. Also, I can't seem to stop thinking about the fact that one day I will have to face the mad man who murdered my birth parents, and save a bunch of lives from the wizarding version of Hitler).

I'm not really sure what I want to do with my life when I grow up (I was planning to be a computer programmer, but now I think I'll be a wizard. Still not sure what kind of career I want though, definitely not an Auror though).

I don't know anything about my birth parents, I was too young when they died (actually I could tell you a decent amount about them. A lifetime ago I read a bunch of books that talked about them, even if they were just side characters. Also, I can remember a little over a year of living with them as a helpless baby).

Once Harley met the Grangers though, it became harder to lie all the time. Mostly this is because he genuinely likes them. They make him feel safe and excepted, and slowly his secrets have started to come out.

Still there are a few secrets that he can't share. Those about his past life, the God in his head, the visions he sees, and the fact that Hermione and him will boarding a train in a few years to a magical boarding school. He doesn't want to be sent to a mental hospital after all.

His visions have become increasingly stronger as he gets older. Where before he used to see a flash of eyes, or feel the warmth of a hug, now he sees whole scenes that can last as long as a minute. They are becoming more like dreams, where he might think an entire hour has passed, but in reality, it was only thirty seconds to a minute.

The moments of distraction are becoming harder to hide, and he is worried that someone might notice soon. Luckily Hermione is the only one to have noticed anything so far, and she just thinks he's a bit scatterbrained. It is early one Saturday morning when everything changes.

Both Granger parents have the day off and they are planning to take their two wonderful children to the zoo. It's a gloriously bright day. Their car is in the shop, but they don't mind.

The day has already been planned and nothing is going to stop their time for family fun and bonding. It has already been firmly decided. They will take the underground, right after they finish their lovely breakfast.

Only this is not what Faunus has planned for the day, not even close, and what Faunus plans is what will happen. He is a God after all, he has plenty of sway over mortals. Especially those mortals that are blessed with his gifts.

Harley is in the middle of being asked what animal he is looking forward to seeing the most at the zoo, when a full-on vision hits. This isn't just a quick flash he can shake away like what happens ninety percent of the time.

Not only is the whole table paying attention to him, but this is his longest vision he has had to date, lasting a whole two minutes. That's twice as long as his previously longest vision that had lasted only one minute.

The vision is not bright and sunny like all those previously have been. His previous visions have been to keep him sane through hard times, and get him adapted to the power that he holds. This vision is completely different. This vision is a warning.

It starts out normal enough. He is boarding the underground with his new family, happy to be spending time with those he cares about the most. They are all chatting and having fun. He is excited to ride on the tube for the first time. Though he isn't a fan of enclosed spaces, he is happy to be going out somewhere new.

It is at least twenty minutes later and Hermione and her parents are talking about something he isn't really paying attention to. He turns from them to look out the window. He simply stares for a while, watching the walls fly by around the train.

He is fondly remembering a lifetime ago, traveling with his first family in a truck and trailer for summer vacation, watching the freeway fly by as his parents and older sister talk about things he has no interest in. Once upon a time, after the death of his first father, the memory would have brought him to tears. In this life though he can remember that time fondly.

Then suddenly he feels a wash of foreboding sweep through his body. He turns back to his family to see that they are acting just as they had before, with no idea about what will happen. There is a blood curdling screech, a metallic crunch, and then the feeling of really flying.

He sees his father wrap his arms around Hermione as they are jerked away. His mother has her arms outstretched for him, but it is too late and she can't reach. Everything comes crashing down from that flying feeling and then goes dark.

He awakens on a patch of concrete. There is a ringing in his ears. _Pain_. There are bits of crumpled train all around him. He can see flames in the distance. _Pain_! The lights of the surrounding tunnel are flickering in and out. _So much pain!_ He can hear screaming and crying coming from all directions.

He turns his head and to the right he can see Mr. Granger with his arms wrapped around Hermione. Hermione is bleeding from a head wound. _Slowly the pain starts to recede._ Mr. Granger does not appear to be breathing and Hermione is slowly turning ash white.

 _The pain isn't too bad now, he is starting to go numb._ He turns to the left and he can see Ms. Granger. She is flung over a crumpled bench her right arm and leg hanging at horrible angles. _He is starting to feel cold._ She is staring at him; all the blood has drained from her face. Tears chase each other down her face as she lifts her left arm out to him. _So cold._

Finally, he looks down at himself. There is a bloody pipe sticking out from between his lungs. Suddenly he realizes he can't breathe, but it's alright because it doesn't hurt anymore. He looks up again to meet Ms. Grangers eyes. Even in their fright they are somehow warm. The world begins to fade, and he knows he is dyeing again. The last thing he hears as he fades away is Ms. Granger's desperate cry of despair.

He awakens to yelling that is not so filled with pain, but still worried. He is sitting at the kitchen table, a fork full of syrupy waffles halfway to his mouth and dripping onto his nice black slacks. They have not left yet, everyone is still alive, and they're all yelling at each other in worry.

Harley feels as tears slip past his eyes and he slowly lowers his fork. The yelling instantly ceases and all becomes silent, making the fact that he has started to hyperventilate all the more obvious. Ms. Granger is the first to act, placing a comforting hand over Harley's shaking one.

"What's wrong, what happened?" She asks in a quiet voice filled with pain. She thinks that maybe Harley has had a flashback from his time with his horrible relatives. They had been warned that this might happen when they were going through the adoption process.

The pain in her voice instantly brings back the image of Ms. Grangers horrified eyes as she surveys her family dead or dying in a crushed underground car. The images in his brain are horrifyingly persistent.

Harley shakes his head no, like somehow that will stop his vision from coming true. He knows it won't do anything, but he can't seem to stop. His shoulders begin to shake as he quietly cries. In the vision he had welcomed death as the freeing of pain, but that is not how he feels now.

He does not want to leave this world yet. He has just found a family again, and he hasn't even started his crazy adventure to come. He wants to see those beautiful blue eyes he has been having visions about since he was small. Wants to feel the warm hugs he has been anticipating for years. Wants to see red hair swaying in the breeze and a beautiful smile directed down at him.

"Please- we can't go! - We can't go!" is all he can force out between his shallow, panicked breaths.

"Is this about the train sweetie? I know your claustrophobic but we'd be there with you the whole time." Mr. Granger asks gently before exchanging a loaded look with his wife.

That's not it, but briefly Harley thinks about going with the lie. It would be easy to sell. He is claustrophobic after all, has been since his previous life, and the cupboard under the stairs has only made it worse. He has never had an attack on this scale before, but he could still probably sell it, and even if that means never taking a trip by train with his family, at least they will be safe.

He will tell any lie to keep his family safe. As much as he hates it he'll do it to protect them. Before he can open his mouth to perpetuate the lie, he hears the voice in his head again. It is loud and stern, much more so then ever before.

" **No more hiding, tell them!** "

Harley wants to argue, he is afraid of what his family will do if he lets anymore secrets out. He does not want to be sent away, or locked up, or looked at differently. They are his family and he has only just found them.

He wants more time before he has to ruin it all by revealing the lies he has told, but Faunus has never guided him wrong before. Also, Faunus has never sounded so stern, so really, he doesn't want to argue _that_ much. With a deep breath to calm his nerves, he begins his tail that is, most likely, less believable then the lies.

"N-no, it's not the claustrophobia. I-I saw it. There is going to be a big crash on the underground. If we go... we'll all die." His voice shakes slightly, but he meets their eyes dead on. They all look skeptical, but unsure of what to say. The adoption agency has warned them that he may start to tell tall tales, but somehow, they never expected it to be so unbelievable.

"I've had visions for as long as I can remember, and I know you don't believe me. I know it's crazy, but trust me, please." He sees the faces of his parents and he knows he has to say something more, something to convince them not to call a psychiatrist. Something that seems more rational.

"Let's just stay home and watch the news. The crash will still happen you'll see, it'll be just before the Baker Street station... and if it doesn't happen... if it doesn't happen then you can call Miss June or the psychiatrist... just-Please trust me! I'm not crazy!"

Again, Mr. and Ms. Granger exchange waited looks. They don't believe Harley, but they also need to show him that they trust him and in turn he can trust them. They will sit and watch the news, and when nothing happens they will call June to find out what they need to do to help Harley get rid of such delusions.

Clearly Harley needs more help then they previously thought, and he will get it. His mental health means more than their family trip, they can always take one at a later date anyway. They won't abandon their child in his time of need, and maybe him seeing that there is no crash will help. Mr. Granger nods and they all convene to the couch to watch the news.

"When will it happen?" That's Hermione, unlike her parents she does believe Harley. After all, he has never lead her wrong before. Beside which she has experienced some weird things before, like chocolates floating from the kitchen when she was really young and in time out, though she never told anyone about it.

Harley is not sure at first, but then he sees a second of the scene again, right before the crash as he is glancing back towards his family from the window. The digital clock, right next to the sign that reads their next stop, reads 9:38 am. So, he tells them and they wait.

It is close to an hour before the crash will happen. They try to make conversation, but it is awkward and stilted. Ms. Granger keeps an arm wrapped around Harley, and it helps keep the shaking at bay. Harley is feeling guilty that he knows this crash will happen, but can't warn anyone other than his family.

He is also feeling nervous that maybe it won't happen and they will think he is crazy. Maybe they won't love him anymore, or they'll send him away. If it does happen will they hate him, think him a freak of nature like the Dursleys had? He tries to stay calm, tries to trust Faunus like he always has before. For the first time though, his trust is not absolute. It is shaky and desperate.

The awaited time comes and nothing happens. Still they wait, and Harley grows more and more nervous. His shaking increases. Hermione grabs his hand and squeezes, but doesn't look away from the television screen. He is so scared, but still they wait.

The Grangers plan to wait until ten before calling, since it might take time for the news to get out. They don't have even the slightest belief that there will be a crash, but they want to make sure Harley knows that nothing happened.

Finally, only three minutes to ten an emergency broadcast goes out announcing the crash. As Harley had said it happened just before the Baker Street Station at exactly 9:38. There are pictures of crumpled steel and fire, and an early estimation of hundreds dead.

Harley turns to the Grangers; their faces have lost a lot of color. They are staring at Harley like they have seen a ghost. He is unsure what to say to them. 'I told you so' just doesn't seem appropriately serious. Hermione squeezes Harley's hand and decides to break the ice. After all, she has had more time to adjust to the idea, since she had believed Harley an hour ago when he told this crazy story.

"Have you seen anything else important?" She asks curiously.

There is a slight excitement in her voice, but her eyes are worriedly shifting between her parents. Harley thinks about telling them about Magic, but is worried it might be a little too much at once. Instead he just shrugs and doesn't take his eyes off of their parents.

"Do you hate me now that you know I'm a freak?" He asks in a weak voice. He has no idea how they will eventually take the news that Hermione is a witch, and he isn't even theirs by blood. Maybe it will be too much for them to handle.

"Oh, of course not!" Ms. Granger cries as she wraps him in a hug.

The Grangers had been informed by June that the Dursleys had often called him such horrible things. The thought that he is comparing them to such disgusting people hurts, but they know Harley just needs to be reassured that they will always be there for him. They know it will likely take many years for them to undo so much of the damage that his biological relatives had done to him.

"If you have seen the future. Do you know what this power is? Are there others like you out there? Maybe someone we can all learn from." Mr. Granger asks, as he places a comforting hand on Harley's fuzzy head.

"Ah, well..." He glances at Hermione uncertain if now is the right time to reveal those secrets as well. He feels a slight push from Faunus and then he knows. He is of course still nervous, but they seem to be taking things relatively well.

"Actually, there is another world out there-" He stops at their quickly widening eyes and realizes he probably worded that wrong.

"Well not really a world, more like... a society of people. They call themselves Witches and Wizards, and they can do amazing things." Again, he pauses to read their faces.

"My...birth father came from that society. My birth mother was born from regular people, like you, but when she turned eleven they invited her to come to their school, because she was a Witch...Um they call people like her muggle-borns...and... um-." He pauses again, a bit nervous to continue.

They defiantly seem happy he had called them his birth parents. It reassures them that he still accepts them as his current parents. Hermione is looking very excited and he has a feeling that she knows what he is about to say next.

"Well actually Hermione is a muggle-born too. On her eleventh birthday one of the teachers will come to invite her to Hogwarts. And I'll get a letter on my birthday, I guess that will come first. Ah, but anyway Witches and Wizards use wands to do Magic and there are rules and books and everything, but the thing I do... that's not really very common even in their society."

"They have a whole branch of Magic called Divination, and it's supposed to be about telling the future, but not just anyone can do it, and a lot of times the teachers that teach it haven't even been given the gift. Or if they do, they have a watered down version of it that involves prophecies, that they can't even remember giving."

"I know how to get into a magical shopping district in London to prove it to you. I mean we would have to plan it out because some people over there don't like muggles or muggle-borns so we would need to blend in but ah-"

He froze again as another vision came over him. This one was not scary like the last had been, but it was just as long. It was pretty much an information dump from Faunus. Not a whole lot of actual future knowledge more like 'you should go here and talk to this person and see what they say' type thing.

The Grangers are in shock. They take the few minutes of Harley's vision to start to process. The world was not what they had thought it was. Both Mr. and Ms. Granger had a lot of world altering thoughts to go through. Since they were both Doctors they had spent years learning how the world worked.

They had taken many math, biology and science classes, and now they were finding that there was so much more to the world that they had not known before. Some of the things they knew were probably even wrong. Of course, it was slightly scary, but it was also very exciting.

At heart Mr. and Ms. Granger liked adventure, and learning about new things. They liked to visit new places and see different cultures. To find out that there was a whole other society of people, in their own backyard, that they had no previous knowledge of was quite exciting. Harley came out of his vision with a smile and a plan.

"If we could go next weekend, that would be really great. We can go to The Leaky Cauldron. That's the pub that connects London to one of the main shopping districts in the Wizarding World, Diagon Ally."

"There will be someone there we can talk to! A future class mate and her mom! She is also a bit of a seer and she can help explain things!" Then we can visit the bank, Gringotts, and I can get access to the bank account my biological parents left me, and we can get lots of books so that we are prepared and informed before it comes time to start school!"

Harley was getting really excited now. He had thought it would be years before he would get access to new information about the way the world he would eventually live in worked. The last few comments also got Hermione super excited. New books!

Even through all the shock they were currently experiencing the Granger parents were quite happy to see their children so excited to learn more. They were very proud of their inquisitive natures.

Plans were made for the following weekend, and in the mean time they spent the rest of the day asking Harley as many questions as they could think up about the Wizarding World. Harley had plenty of knowledge to share, but also many questions he just didn't know the answers to.

He did not have any more visions with answers. It seemed they would have to meet up with this future class mate's mother for more information. Everyone was very excited for the adventure to come.

Harley had a headache for the rest of the day from the repeated visions. His mind wasn't used to being open for so long. He takes an over the counter pain tablet, but it has no effect.

As he is laying down to sleep, he listens for the sound of Faunus's breath and heartbeat, as he has every night since he has learned how. The soothing sound of leaves rustling in the breeze, crickets chirping and wild beasts playing finally takes the pain away. He drifts off into a restful sleep.

~O::O::O~

I hope any returning readers went back and reread the first 4 chapters or some things might not make sense. I added over 4500 words to chapter 1-4. Mostly this was to add depth that was missing, but also I changed a few plot points as well as the entire timeline. Harley is a full two years younger then she would have been if these changes weren't made.

So what do you all think!? I'm supper excited about this chapter and all the edits I made! I've been struggling with the inspiration for this story. I have a few scenes firmly in my head but everything else I kinda just make up as I go. So if anyone out there has ideas feel free to share them!

~O::O::O~


	6. Adventures

Inventorum (Latin): Discoveries.

~O::O::O~

 **Artwork for the story added**! Links are on my page. Please check it out XD

Ch 1-5 reposted again. No plot changes just for grammer and spelling issues I found once i switched to microsoft word.

~O::O::O~

Harley has always loved adventures. Whether they were out to explore an old cave, going to visit a new library, or taking a trip to a magical alley to learn about a new society. It's all fantastic to Harley. Throughout both of his lives the adventures he went on had generally been of the bland variety.

This trip to Diagon alley is likely the most exciting thing he has ever done. Its more exhilarating then it had been going to his first college course, and that had been a major highlight of his first life.

When they arrive at the old run-down pub, Harley and Hermione are the only ones that can actually see the place. Hermione takes their mother's hand and Harley their fathers, and they guide the two through a door they can't even see.

On the other side the two adult Grangers are finally able to see what's really there. Apparently, the magic of the Leaky Cauldron is set up so that they can't accidentally stumble across it, but if they can somehow make it in blind then the magic will ignore them.

There is no one waiting to shake his hand or ask for his autograph, because no one is expecting him to find the wizarding world this day. No one seems to even really recognize him. Also, Hagrid hasn't accidentally let it slip that he was on important business to pick up Harry Potter.

Luna and her mother, Pandora, are waiting for them in a booth. Luckily, they are expecting them. As Luna also shares a connection with Faunus. Faunus does not speak with her the same way he speaks with Harley, instead she sees many more visions then Harley does, and those visions do not take her away from reality the way Harley's do.

Instead they are like a fog on a mirror, where the fog is the vision and the mirror reality, she can still see through the fog to the image on the mirror, but its slightly distorted and blended with the fog.

The fact that their connections are so inherently different is not odd to Harley. After all, Takoda, the Native American spirit he had met in the between spirit realm, had explained to him that everyone had a different kind of connection to their God/Goddess, and that some were stronger than others, or just plain different.

It is however discouraging to his parents, who had been hoping to find out more about Harley's gift and how to deal with it from Luna's mother. They talk about all of this and some other pressing questions they have over a quaint breakfast at their booth in the Leaky Cauldron.

Afterword's Pandora shows them how to get through the entrance to Diagon alley and leads them to the bank. She leaves them there after suggesting a very professional solicitor that does business only a few shops down. She doesn't explain why, but it becomes clear very quickly after they enter the bank.

Since he does not have his key the goblins refuse him entry to his vault. The Grangers exchange some of their money into the wizarding currency and head to the suggested solicitor. They ask for advice and draw up a quick privacy contract before getting into the details.

It turns out that they have a lot of things to discuss with the solicitor. Apparently, Harley's birth parent's Will had never been properly read. This was known for a fact because if it had the magic in the Will would have automatically delivered his key to him.

Also, the fact that he has been adopted by the Grangers in the muggle world hadn't legally transferred to the magical world. They could easily do the magical paperwork for the adoption, however when being adopted by muggles magical children were required by law to have a legal magical guardian.

The only option around this was to be magically emancipated. They could of course try to find a magical legal guardian for Harley, but that was inadvisable for many reasons. Including the fact that there were quite a few free Death Eaters in high places of the ministry.

The Granger's are not at all happy with the idea of magical emancipation, but Harley is interested to hear more about it, and thus asks many questions. If he was emancipated the Grangers would still be his legal guardians in most instances, but sadly the wizarding world is quite segregated.

There are many instances that you might deal with in everyday wizarding life were muggles are either outright banned, or treated as second class citizens. Some examples of these instances are the judicial system (where muggles are not only not allowed to file a case against a wizard, but also can't even testify in a case between two wizards), magical contracts (which obviously muggles can't enter into as they have no magic, but apparently magical contracts are actually pretty common in everyday wizarding life).

Even his inheritance is something that he would lose without either being magically emancipated or having a legal magical guardian, because apparently while they were allowed to exchange currency, muggles were not legally allowed to hold an account at Gringotts. If he is magically emancipated he would be in charge of himself in all of these cases and more.

Not to mention he would legally be treated as though he were an adult when it came to magic. Meaning that he could have and use a wand, but also that if he used his magic in an illegal way he would be tried as an adult. Harley very much likes the idea. After all he has been searching his entire second life for a way to feel more independent and this would be a huge step in the right direction.

The test for magical emancipation is predictably a magical test. It is, oddly enough, very similar to the sorting ceremony preformed at Hogwarts. A magically enchanted hat was placed on the head of the child that was trying to be emancipated, and it would determine if they were mature enough for the legal responsibility.

It is mostly used on teenagers in abusive families that wish to be free. It has in a few cases been used for muggle family's wishing to legally adopt their magical orphaned relatives. Sadly, most of those children hadn't been old enough to even have a chance of passing. Luckily for Harley he has the memories of a previous life where he was in fact an adult, as well as the voice of a God in his head.

Which also leads to another issue. Harley needs to be registered as a Seer with the ministry. So that any future visions he has that he feels like sharing will be listened to, and also so he won't get in trouble for not registering later.

There is also the issue of his name, which he had legally changed to Harley Granger in the muggle world when he was adopted. Again, in the magical world that legal change is not valid, and again there is magical paperwork they have to do to make it legally binding.

The solicitor however warns them that he can't simply get rid of his old name, not if he wants to keep his inheritance, the legal power that the Potter name holds, or the advantage of not being muggle born in a world that discriminates so heavily against such people. Instead it is suggested that he register it as a preferred name.

Luckily, he can legally choose which name he goes by. This way all of his legal and magical documentation will hold the name he chooses. Yet he will still be able to use the Potter name and legal power when he needs to. He can also legally register as different gendered.

Which honestly is not something he was expecting. Apparently, the ideas surrounding gender is one of the few things that the magical world has more advanced ideas about compared to the muggle world. It makes sense in a way.

Magical culture has very little influence from the Abrahamic religions, one of the largest fighters against differentness and diversity. Not to mention that there are magical ways to change your body so that it fits with your minds image of what is should be.

Additionally, same sex couples can still easily have children and continue their line. One of them just needs to temporally change their sex so that a pregnancy can occur. If the couple are both male then this can be much more stressful as the one that turns female must stay that way throughout the pregnancy.

If neither partner feels comfortable doing such a thing then a surrogate mother is generally used. Unlike in the muggle world, since the partners can temporarily change sex, then the surrogate mother doesn't provide half of their genes to the baby.

The reason for registering as different gendered with the ministry is that official people would have to refer to Harley using their preferred gender nouns. It didn't matter if he was in for a court case, he was receiving official ministry correspondence, or if he was featured in a news article.

Of course, this couldn't force regular people to use his pronouns when talking to or about him, but for those things that fell under the laws legal preview it was required. Not to mention that most people raised in the wizarding world would use his preferred pronouns with very little prompting, especially if he was officially registered.

It is not hard to get an appointment that very day with the emancipation hat. It is not used very often and their solicitor is of very high standing. The hardest part is getting the Grangers to not completely flip out about the clear segregation apparent in the society around them.

A part of the Grangers desperately wants to pull their children away from this society. They want to put their foot down and say, 'Sorry kids we won't put up with such blatant discrimination' and simply not let them ever attend the wizarding school or interact with the people.

The solicitor however makes it quite clear that while they could get away with such a thing in regards to Hermione as she is biologically their child, with Harley it will never be that easy. Since the muggle adoption has no legal standing in the magical world, they cannot opt him out of magical schooling.

They cannot legally adopt him in the wizarding world without a magical guardian. There is clearly something stopping the magical worlds child services from monitoring Harley. Otherwise they would have been informed of all of this when they adopted him. Not to mention the magical child services would have jumped in to deal with the mistreatment of his relatives.

Whatever it was that was stopping them however would not hold if Harley did not show up for his first year at Hogwarts. Too many people knew what year to expect him, and his absence would be looked into thoroughly. They would find him with the Grangers and likely take him away or force a magical guardian on him. Possibly an old death eater or possibly just a nosy ministry worker. Either way there is no way they would let him out of the wizarding world.

If he was emancipated it would very easily become public knowledge. If he did not attend wizarding school after that, many angry witches and wizards would target the Grangers for taking away their savior. Things could get dicey fast.

The best course of action was to get all the paperwork done, get the emancipation taken care of first, then file all the paperwork when they were at the ministry. Read his parents Will after all of that so that it couldn't place him in the legal care of someone unwanted, since he would already be considered an adult.

After that they would immediately have Gringotts set wards and such around their property, mail, and even their persons. To protect them from any possible backlash. When the two children turned eleven they would attend Hogwarts and learn to defend themselves.

The plan was put into action immediately. They went to the ministry with their solicitor after lunch. The emancipation hat deemed Harley mature enough to be in charge of themselves magically. The Grangers and the solicitor had partially doubted Harleys claim that the hat would do so, but the solicitor had urged them to believe Harley since he was in fact a seer and was likely more mature.

After the emancipation they quickly filed the other paperwork. The name change, different gendered registration, and non-magical adoption went through immediately, if only because Harley was now magically an adult and had the power to legally decide these things on his own.

Being registered as a seer took a bit more time. Harley had to go with a ministry unspeakable into a room in the Department of Mysteries. The unspeakable told them that it was common practice for only the unspeakable and the one being tested to be present during the testing.

The solicitor did not refute this, however Harley noticed that the unspeakable did not say it was forbidden for others to be present. Something felt suspicious, and all it took was a slight nudge from Faunus for Harley to state that he wished his family and solicitor be present. He did not state it as a question, simply a fact.

The solicitor looked surprised but pleased, the unspeakable looked surprised but upset, and the Grangers just looked surprised. No one argued however, and they proceeded with the test.

A small sample of Harley's blood was taken and placed on an unassuming piece of paper. The blood slowly soaked into the paper. When the entire drop had been absorbed, flowing script began to forum.

 _Harley J. Potter_

 _Gifted by the God of Nature and Prophecy_

 _Faunus (aka Pan)_

 _Given the Voice of Nature_

 _Given the Knowledge of Future_

 _Given the Blessing of Protection_

 _Gift Rank SSS_

The solicitor gasped audibly as the unspeakable stared at the words in shock. Harley felt an odd tingling at the back of his hands. He lifted them to see a green symbol etched into the back of his hands. He rubbed his thumb over one and found that the skin was still flat, but the etchings glowed slightly, like little lights under his skin.

Coming out of his shock, the unspeakable looked at the markings on Harleys hands. They seemed to make him even more surprised. With a shaking hand he sketched the image lightly onto the edge of the paper with the flowing words.

"What does this mean?" Asked Dr. Granger sternly. Both of the people that knew what was going on were shocked into silence, and she wanted to know why.

"Well…" Started the solicitor, "Harley has been gifted by a very strong God. Faunus is… extremely powerful. There are a few different Gods that can bless mortals with the gift of prophecy. Of them, Faunus is the strongest and thus the one that is the least likely to bless a mortal."

"Most mortals that are blessed with the gift of prophecy by any of the gods, receive only the blessing of prophecy and nothing else. This means that they can have visions and predict things for other people but will never themselves remember what they predict. Also, this means that they can't predict things that effect their own lives."

"Harley didn't receive the gift of prophecy, he received the gift of Knowledge of Future. That means they can see things that involve themselves as well as remember all of their visions. It is a very rare and treasured gift."

"Harley has also been given the gift of the Blessing of Protection, which means that Faunus is protecting them personally. Anyone that harms Harley is challenging Faunus personally. Even the other Gods would think twice before targeting Harley. It's remarkable, I have never heard of someone being blessed with more than one thing before, let alone ones so powerful!"

"And the third, Voice of Nature _,_ what is that?"

"Honestly I've never even heard of it before. It must be rare. Do you know?" The Solicitor asked the unspeakable.

"Oh, um yes… I've seen this before. It didn't used to be rare. It was a common gift, though given at a much weaker strength, a very long time ago. Recently it has become much rarer. The gift of the Voice of Nature allows the one who receives it to hear the world as it truly is."

"Some who had the voice could speak to animals, some could tell when people were lying. Some could speak directly to the God that blessed them with the gift. Things like that. It differed depending on the person and the strength of their gifts. See this here-"

He pointed at the three S's at the bottom of the page. When they nodded, he continued.

"This shows that each of your three gifts are of S rank. That is the strongest rank we can record. That means that however you present the gift of the Voice of Nature, it will be strong."

"And these marks here. What do they mean?" asked Dr. Granger as he squeezed Harley's hand. The symbol on the back of each of his hands was a simple design.

It consisted of an equilateral triangle with the top tip pointing towards his wrist. Slightly above the center of the triangle was a solid circle that created the pupil of the eye. Two curved lines around the circle that barely passed through to the outside of the triangle created the two lids of the eye. The lines and circle were all in an emerald green color. That was it. It was a simple design.

"Those are the marks of Faunus's gifts. They signal to those around Harley not to mess with them, and to listen if they choose to share their knowledge. Even when Gods chose to give their gifts they don't often mark others. It is a show of respect that very few people receive. Harley is extremely lucky to receive such vast gifts from such a strong God."

The solicitor knelt in front of Harley and made direct eye contact with him.

"You need to know that if people ask you about your gifts or your vision then you are not obliged to tell them. Some high-ranking people might try to get information from you that they have no right to. They might think your age means you are easy to manipulate."

"If this happens all you must say is this, 'Weather or not Faunus has gifted that knowledge to me, he has clearly not gifted it to you.' This should stop them. If it doesn't simply inform them you know your rights and have a solicitor on hand. Understand?" When Harley nods the solicitor smiles and rises to his feet.

"Good. Now I know at least some of this will get out sooner or later, but I trust you will protect this knowledge until we can at least get the child's house adequately guarded? After all they are just a child, even if they are guarded by the God Faunus?" The solicitor subtly threatened.

"Of course! I can keep the paperwork on me at all times until you let me know that their house is adequately protected. From their I must file them properly. I can label them as highly sensitive so most of the information will be redacted, but some of the basics will still be available for public view and someone will likely get the scoop sooner or later."

"Hmm, In that case. I would suggest not redacting the actual gifts, just the personal things like home address that we already have redacted on all the other files. Since your symbol has an eye on it which is the traditional symbol for seers and it is in such an obvious place people will already know you have some sort of gift of visions."

"The knowledge of how powerful and what exactly that gift is, who it was given by, and the additional gift of protection will most likely only help your case. People will not want to make you their enemy." The solicitor explained to Harley. He agreed with the logic and finally they were done at the Department of Mysteries.

Next, they head to Gringotts bank. There the goblins are happy to read Harley's parent's Will. Again, it is suggested he leave his solicitor and adopted family behind, and again he refuses. He can tell that neither of these groups would have suggested he leave his family behind if they had not been muggles or muggle-borns, and he absolutely refuses to be a part of that kind of discrimination.

They are his family and that is all that matters. Besides he really appreciates their moral support. As for the solicitor, he is much more familiar with the wizarding world and is being paid to make sure these people don't screw him over whilst he and his family learn the new laws for this place.

The Will is read. Almost everything his parents had owned goes to him. This includes vast vaults and properties from his father's ancestors. As well as Jewelry and wedding rings passed down from his mother's family. There are a few items that had been in other people's care that the Will calls to them.

He spots his father's invisibility cloak in the pile almost immediately and tries to subtly shove it in his backpack before anyone else can see it. Hermione and the goblins notice but do not say anything. The solicitor and his parents are too busy reading the Will.

The Grangers are furious, because the Will contains a list of people that were to be given care of Harley in the event of their deaths. The solicitor is explaining who they all are. Of course, there is Sirius Black who is rotting away in Azkaban for his alleged betrayal of Harley's parents. There is Alice and Frank Longbottom who are in a permanent ward of the hospital for spell damage effecting the brain.

Many more are dead, however there are plenty that are still alive, including but not limited to Arthur and Molly Weasley. Lily and James Potter had known there was a war going on, people were going to die, and had thus included the names of many people they trusted in case worst came to worst.

The truly horrible thing is that the Will specifically states that Harley was not to ever go to the Dursleys. Lily knew what kind of people they were and would have rather put Harley in the system them have him with such horrible people. Yet someone had still put him with them.

Harley's parents are seething. They are trying to figure out who could have put Harley with the Dursleys and stopped his parents Will from being read. The solicitor has no clue and is trying to calm them down. The goblins are watching with interest. Hermione is holding Harley's hand and listening to her parents argue with the solicitor.

Harley knows pretty well who did it, but doesn't think it is a good idea to tell his parents, so he doesn't. Instead he is thinking about something else entirely. They hadn't really been paying attention to him when they mentioned Sirius Black, but he had been listening to them.

As soon as the name is said Harley remembers the first man to hold him in his new life. He remembers the desperate tears that had rolled off of a devilishly handsome face onto his own pudgy cheeks. He remembers that Sirius promised to return for him. He remembers dreaming of Sirius when he was stuck immobile at the Dursleys. Dreaming that Sirius had come to save him from his nasty relatives that didn't love him. Dreaming of Sirius's warm hugs and mischievous smile.

"Sirius Black is innocent." He had not been planning to speak. The words had come out of his mouth on their own accord. It felt like a pressure had built up in his chest as he remembered and it came out like a sigh as the words left his mouth. As he spoke the marks on his hands glowed stronger from where they rested at his sides. The solicitor and goblins looked up at him in surprise.

"...That- that was The Voice of Knowledge you just spoke with." The Solicitor said with a shiver.

"That's amazing I could actually feel the power in your words." He took a breath, "If Sirius Black is truly innocent we will have to do something about that. How did he get convicted if he was innocent?"

All the information from the books he had read in his previous life flowed through his head before he spoke. "He never had a trial." Again, the word felt like a sigh as they exited his mouth. Again, the marks on the backs of his hands glowed.

That- that could be pretty useful Harley thought as he watched Hermione and the solicitor shiver from the power in his voice. His Parents didn't seem effected at all. As muggles they couldn't feel the power in his words. Very interesting.

After the Will was taken care of the goblin were happy to set them up with strong wards. Of course, they charged them for it, but the goblins knew that Harley's mark made him quite strong. They could tell he would one day change the world. It was better to have strong allies then dead enemies.

They were given some personal wards to keep on their person and the warders were scheduled to come out to their home the very next day. Any magical mail was set up to come through Gringotts to be scanned for any curses, hexes or the like, before being passed on.

Finally, they left the bank. The solicitor needed to get some paperwork ready to start the process of freeing Sirius Black. So, he left them just after they exited the bank. From there the Grangers decided to go to the book store to buy themselves the start of a new library.

All the Grangers were very inquisitive and they had different tastes, so they ended up buying a ton of books. Harley asked the shop keeper to shrink the packages. He would unshrink them at home with his own wand, that they would buy after they left the book store.

Hermione was a bit jealous that she couldn't get a want as well, but she understood there were extenuating circumstances, and that Harley would help her learn what she could without a wand.

Harley is surprised to find that the wand he receives from Ollivander's is not the one that he remembers reading about. As soon as Ollivander sees the mark on the back of his hand, he stops measuring Harley and goes to the back room. When he comes back he tentatively hands over a wand he says he had been experimenting with.

He says he has never tried to make a wand like this before, but just last week something had pushed him to make it. When Harley opens the box, he sees why Ollivander had immediately brought it to him. At the very end of the handle carved into a sphere is the same mark as the one on his hands.

The rest of the handle is covered in runes. A swirl is engraved from the tip of the wand to almost the very vase of the handle. In between the swirl is a pattern of circles, dots, and triangles. Harley carefully pulls the wand from its box and gives it a gentle flick. The sparkles that spark forth look like an exploding nebulous in the night sky. It is the most beautiful thing he has ever seen and he instantly falls in love.

The wand core of his new wand is something called a melded core. Melded cores are extremely rare because they are so hard to make on purpose and are almost always the result of an accident. The last recorded user of a melded core was Merlin, who had wielded a staff with a melded core.

A melded core is a core that consists of two separate cores that have somehow melded together to form one. The core of Harleys wand is a mix of a Phoenix feather and Thestral hair. Ollivander said that both ingredients he had collected from Hogwarts. After retrieving the items, he had gone to the top of the astronomy tower in the middle of a great thunder storm.

The ingredients were struck by a bolt of lightning that fused them. The wood of the wand was eleven inches of yew. A wood known for its power over life, death, and rebirth. Yew had a reputation for its wielders to be fiercely protective, or evil. Harley new which one fit him.

The sphere at the end was actually made of crystal. Ollivander had mysteriously found it at the edge of a lake in the forbidden forest, when he had gotten lost looking for the wood that would be used in the wand. As soon as he had found the crystal he had been able to find his way out of the forest.

After Ollivander's they were finally able to go home. They all spent awhile going through their new books before coming together to make a nice family dinner. They cooked and ate together, happily talking about new things they had learned that day.

After dinner they all retired to the sitting room with a different book each. The kids each had a warm glass of milk. The adults had a glass of red wine. Together they all relaxed and read for a few hours before bed. When bedtime came, they all brushed their teeth and set their alarm clocks in preparation for another busy day tomorrow.

~O::O::O~

It was just after breakfast the next day that the warders showed up. They were an equal mix of goblins and humans, males and females. They immediately started working, taking measurements, testing for lay lines, finding what type of stones to use for ward stones.

For the strength of the warding they would be doing, it would take them somewhere between seven to twelve days to finish. This was remarkably fast for such intricate work. The Grangers had paid a lot of money to make sure their house was as safe as it could be in as quick a time as possible.

Harley and Hermione spent a good few hours just watching all the busy work. For now, all the workers need to work on was outside. After a few hours Hermione got bored and got one of her new books out to read. She stayed seated in the window seat with Harley, and occasionally let her focus drift back up to the work.

Harley couldn't keep his eyes away from the witches and wizard swarming around the yard. When he focused on one of them for long enough he could almost hear a faint song coming from each. There were no words really, just tones and melodies. It was very faint, but it seemed like each had their very own tune.

When he tried to focus on the goblins the noises he heard were extremely disorientating, unlike any music he had heard before. Most likely it was some sort of goblin music. He tried focusing on his family and found he could hear a very faint tune from Hermione that sounded familiar, yet nothing from his parents. So, the tune probably had to do with magic.

It was during the workers lunch break that it happened. As he was watching some of the humans find seats around their front garden table, his eyes caught a flash of bright red hair. The shade was so familiar that he felt his heart give a throb in his chest.

A vision flashed in his head. It was nothing new. Something he had been seeing for years. Red hair swaying in the wind. Blue eyes sparkling in the sun. Freckles decorating pale skin. A wide grin filled with mischief.

Harley's eyes widened. Was this the person he had been dreaming about for so many years? Was this the person that had gotten him through so many hardships? Harley stood with a start, he needed to know if this was them or not. Hermione lowered her book when Harley stood but didn't have time to say anything as Harley was quickly running out side. Hermione followed, not as fast but determined not to be left behind.

Harley came up behind the man. For he was clearly a man, though undoubtedly young. He wanted to politely grab the man's attention, but couldn't seem to control himself and reached an arm out to grab the man's sleeve. The man had been talking to some of his colleagues, but the all paused and turned to him when he grabbed the man's sleeve.

When the man turned he found himself searching the face before him. The hair was the right color and the eyes a similar shade, but there were no freckles and no mischievous grin. He feels his grin slip away to be replaced by a disappointed frown.

"What is it Harley? What's wrong?" Hermione asks from behind him. Harley feels his shoulders sag as he sighs.

"You're not him." His voice caries a power that makes all the surrounding witches and wizard shiver. His marks glow brighter and then dissipates again. The man's eyes flash to the mark on his hand and then refocus on his face. The man continues to stare at him in surprise as he slowly releases his sleeve.

"Not who?" Hermione asks again slightly worried. Harley sighs again.

"A boy I've been having visions of for a long time. The hair color was right and the eyes are similar, but the one I see has freckles and a different smile. The face is different to. Darn, I really thought I'd finally found him."

"Sorry about that kid." The man says with a light smile, finally getting over his shock.

"No, I'm sorry I bothered you." Harley returns shyly.

"No bother at all. I've noticed you guys watching from the window, why don't you both sit with us whilst we're taking our lunch break? You can ask questions about the warding if you want. You seem really interested."

So, they sit with a smile and a thanks, and Hermione proceeds to overload them with questions. The man, who introduces himself as Bill, answers a few, but apparently, he is barely eighteen and just an apprentice, so a kind woman that sits across from Hermione starts taking over the answers with input from some of the others around her.

Hermione is so happy to learn new information she is glowing. Harley finds his eyes drifting back to Bill. If he's not mistaken he thinks this is Bill Weasley the oldest of this generations Weasley kids. He can't seem to take his eyes off the older red head.

Bill of course notices. Harley is not known for being discreet when he stares at people.

"So, you're a seer?" he asks with a nod toward the markings on his hand. Harley nods with a slight blush.

"What's that like?" He asks innocently.

"Well- sometimes it's really cool. Sometimes it's really scary. Sometimes it's sad." Harley says hesitantly.

"Oh yeah, what makes is scary?" Bill asks confused. He can't think of anything about seeing the future that would be scary.

"Well did you hear about that big explosion in the tubes last week?" Bill shakes his head no. "Well there was a big one, in the tubes, that's one of the ways muggles travel. Hundreds of people died. Even more were injured. We had been planning a trip that weekend, and at breakfast before we left I had a vision."

"We were on the tube, everything was normal, and then suddenly it wasn't. I was laying on the floor with a pipe through my chest. Hermione was in our dad's arms and bleeding from the head, not moving. Our dad was dead, I could just tell. He was grey and not breathing. And my mom was across the way laying on a bench and just broken. It was so cold."

Harley said with a shiver. Bill was looking at Harley in shock. Harley tried to shake the feeling off. He didn't realize that conversation around the table had stopped and everyone was listening to him.

"I died and it was scary. Then I woke up and I had to explain to my family that we couldn't go on our trip. Then all those people really did die, because I couldn't tell anyone important what was going to happen. So that's scary."

"Oh, I'm sorry." Says Bill as he wraps his arm around Harley's shoulder. Harley is cold for some reason. Probably after effect of remembering the vision. His arm is nice and warm it makes Harley feel safe.

"I think if you talk to the people at the ministry they can get you in contact with the people you could tell if you have a vision like that again. The general muggle populace might not be able to be informed about the wizarding world, but there are some key people in the government that know. They could help if you had a vision like that again."

Bill explained. Harley felt better knowing such a thing was possible. It made him feel less guilty knowing there was some way he could help others if he was given the relevant information.

"Thank you." Harley said quietly.

"Of course." Bill replied cheerfully. "So, what's the coolest thing about it?" He asked trying to make Harley feel better.

"Ah…When I'm lonely or sad. I can see and feel good things from the future. Like the boy I see a lot. His smile is so pretty. When I look at him something in my chest flutters. I feel so alive and joyful. It's my favorite of everything I've seen. Sometimes I can even feel him hug me, and it gives me courage."

Harley feels a blush spread across his face in time with his smile. Bill smiles as well. The kid is a cute kid. His brothers are much more mischievous then this. They don't talk about things like this so innocently. They don't accept hugs like this anymore, and the definitely don't blush with such an innocent smile on their faces.

"I think…" Harley starts hesitantly. "I think it's one of your brothers."

"Oh? How do you know if I have any brothers?" Bill asks surprised.

"Seven. There are seven. Your number one, and number seven is a girl. The rest are boys. Your little brothers." Harley says confidently. Voice like a powerful sigh that causes everyone to shiver again.

"Well in that case maybe you can meet them. Two of them are at Hogwarts right now, but you can meet the other four sometime. I'll talk to my mom about it when I go home."

Harley grins at Bill, super excited to possible meet the boy she has been dreaming about for years. The lady that had been answering Hermione's questions before tells them it's time for them to go back to work.

The kids go back inside to watch from the window again with a smile and a wave. Harley feels comfortable grabbing one of her own new books and they read together in the sun streaming in from the window. Their mother brings them a plate of little triangle sandwiches to eat in the sun. They are happy and content.

~O::O::O~

The next day is a school day. Harley wakes up early to go running with her father. By this point they are both used to the early mornings. They know the perfect route to break a good sweat and get home with time for showers and breakfast.

After that its school for Harley and Hermione, and work for both their parents. After school Harley and Hermione attend their martial arts class. As usual Harley has a great time. Hermione has learned to like some of the repetitive movements, but she still hates when it's time to spar. She doesn't like hurting others or being hurt. It's just not her style.

Their father picks them up from martial arts class and takes them home. Harley is disappointed to find that the workers have already left for the day when they get home. She does her homework and some extra reading, but still when she goes to bed that night she is disappointed.

The next day passes in much the same way. The main difference is that there is a letter from Bill waiting for Harley. Bills mother Ms. Weasley has invited Harley and Hermione for a play date next Saturday. Harley is so excited she squeals and jumps around in excitement.

The week passes too slowly for Harley, but finally Saturday comes. Harley really feels like wearing her summer dress today but its January and still pretty cold. She is digging through her closet trying to find some pants that will look alright under her dress when Hermione comes back in from the bathroom.

"What are you looking for?" She asks inquisitively.

"Something to wear under this dress. I want to wear it today but it's pretty cold out." Harley explains.

"Oh, I have a pair of purple leggings that will match if you want to borrow them."

"Yes! You're the best sister ever Hermione!" Harley exclaims. Hermione giggles as she finds her leggings. Harley pairs it with her favorite green converse and a green cargo jacket that goes down just past her bum. After a little over half a year with the Grangers, Harleys hair has started to grow out. It is not yet truly long for a boy. It comes to just above the bottoms of her ears. It is just enough that she can use a small clip to pin back some of the hair that falls over her eyes.

Harley doesn't plan to ever have really long hair. She likes short hair too much for that. It is just so convenient and easy to maintain. Not to mention the freeing feeling of getting it cut short, that is the best. Right now though, Harley plans to grow her hair out to just past her chin. That will be a happy medium for her different styles.

After dressing, Harley and Hermione go to the kitchen for breakfast. Their father has made Hermione's favorite chocolate chip pancakes. Harley eats one, but mostly focuses on the savory foods. She prefers those over sweet things most days.

Their mother will be going with them to the Weasleys house whilst their father stays to supervise the workers. After breakfast the three grab their coats and head out. As they are walking towards the car Harley shouts out with a smile and a wave.

"Bye Bill, see you later!" Bill turns with a smile and a wave. When he sees Harley, his immediate thought is 'Shit I told mom they were male, she is going to be so pissed at me for not warning her!'

Bill knows his mother has talked to all of his siblings about those that are different gendered, but he doesn't think any of them have actually met anyone that was.

Bill knows his mother is very busy with so many kids. The twins are little hellions all by themselves. He really hopes they don't try and tease Harley for something like that. Mom would kill them for it and then he would be down two brothers.

~O::O::O~

Ch 6 word count: 7314

Hope everyone enjoyed, let me know what you think! Reviews are Life!


End file.
